Mont de Marsan Mediatheque

2012, Mont-de-Marsan, France.

The exterior of the Media Library is covered with a transparent surface that enables people to be aware of the inside of the building and create an open and welcoming environment. Also, at night it becomes a lantern that brings the square to life, turning it into an inviting, open and transparent space. The building has been designed as a covered cultural square by making the façades transparent and the floor uniform, also through its position in the middle of the barracks. Transparent surfaces defined the different quality of spaces such as space for authors’ book readings, concerts, conferences, and exhibitions. So, like the Saint Chapel’s leading colorful paths, transparent surfaces lead people to more individual and quiet spaces.

Additionally, there is a curvilinear facade inside the building. Since the hidden curvilinear surface cannot be seen from the exterior of the building, it appeals to peoples’ views when they encounter it. Also, Chartres Cathedral’s labyrinth is just a pattern on the floor, but in the Mediatheque (Media Library) curvilinear surfaces create a sense of 3D labyrinth. Also, it is similar to the Gothic style since they both have used the light in different positions, levels, and locations. So, the curvilinear part enables the interior and the people to have different experiences of light conditions.

Architecture is not just a form of shelter. Through the years, it can be seen as a book narrating the nations, cultures and societal changes that occur around it. It can also be seen as an author, affecting and sometimes creating cultural changes of its own accord.

Gothic architecture is a style that has two forms. The first, Medieval Gothic architecture, narrates these changes through the architectural style that was produced in the period, while the second, Gothic Revival architecture, dictated the societal change that brought the style back to relevance.

Medieval Gothic architecture rose from Romanesque architecture as something completely new and challenged the ideas of the time. It was not a planned structural form, but one that followed an idea that formed a building style around it.

The Gothic Revival was not a new type of architectural style, but an idea that was brought about by and utilized the Gothic architectural form. During this period, architecture — instead of being designed by an idea born of societal change as Medieval Gothic architecture had been — became in itself a tool for societal change.

The role of buildings and structural style became more highly regarded and was recognised as an important part of a culture and its ideals. It held the idea that a structure reminiscent of a better time could bring the morals and culture of that time into the present.