Dar Al Uloum Library

Our Design Vision

The New Library celebrates a renewed vision for the future of Dar Al Uloum with a welcoming urban gesture in the form of a vibrant and active plaza central to the ensemble of the civic buildings within the block.

Including the adjacent mosque and the schools, the plaza becomes a compelling and attractive place for people to gather for a variety of cultural and educational purposes. This bustling central terrace is created by the placement of the new library addition as a spanning “table” upon the structure of the existing library coupled opposite with a new auditorium.

Moreover, the centrality of this urban theatre experience is formed by pairing with the auditorium opposite the graciously inviting stairs to the upper library is further reinforced by the filtered light emanating through large oculus over and within the book stacks gently illuminating the plaza underneath. Thus, the plaza, as well as the internal building spaces all, are focused on the robust presence of the civic identity of this cultural edifice.