Cultural facilities (libraries, complex facilities) / Educational facilities

Tokyo Institute of Technology Library

University library planning utilizing the achievements of public libraries

An open-access university library

The Tokyo Institute of Technology Library has a distinctive function of collecting and accessing scientific and engineering papers from around the world. The new library plans to allow users to freely browse all the 645,000 volumes in the library, which include 10,000 shelves of open shelves and 18,000 shelves of motorized retrieval shelves. It also implements a security plan that enables 24-hour opening hours, making it an open university library that can also be used by people in the neighborhood and outside technical professionals.

University libraries with a stay-in model

University libraries should be designed to accommodate longer stays than public libraries. The new library takes advantage of its architectural features—a ground-level section and a subterranean section—to plan comfortable study spaces in each reading area.

Sustainable university libraries

We envision the university library as a place where people can gather and encounter information and people to create new knowledge by accumulating and providing books. We believe that by creating an environment where users with diverse needs can gather and meet, we can demonstrate a sustainable new library plan that is capable of responding to various future changes.

Facility Overview

Location: Meguro Ward, Tokyo []
Usage: Universities (libraries), museums
co-design: Akita Yukio Laboratory at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tsuchiya Tetsuro Laboratory at Tokyo Institute of Technology
structure: RC, S
Scale: 3rd floor on the ground, 2nd floor underground
total floor area: 8,587m²
Completion: February 2011
Remarks: Number of books 640,000