LIBRARY AND CAMPUS MASTERPLAN APPROVED FOR MALAWI, AFRICA
December 9, 2016 — Steven Holl Architects’ design for a new library at the center of a
new campus has been approved by The Miracle for Africa Foundation.
The 66,000 sq. ft. library is organized via a section that provides maximum reflected
light to the interior with optimum solar PV collection on the roofs. Natural light
bouncing off curved prefabricated roof structures made of Ductile concrete form
space like a “field within a field.”
The free plan library has meeting rooms and archives encased in glass for humidity
control. A central rain collecting pool demarks the main circulation desk and ripples
through the roof geometry like a wave field in cloud-like light.
The construction will utilize local stone and bamboo and local labor. Screens of locally
crafted bamboo define the building perimeter leaving a shaded arcade space all
around.
This library will be the initial construction of a new campus whose plan morphology
has been inspired by paintings of a Malawi batik artist.
The client, Mr. Y.K. Chung, chairman of the Miracle for Africa Foundation, made the
following comments following the design presentation:
“There is great excitement about this project as an artistic masterpiece, and about the
solar energy concept as it works with maximal light, ventilation, and humidity control.
I’m astonished at the consideration and interpretation of Malawian batik art, the
reflective pool, waves in a field of light, and the philosophical axes of the campus. This
project is historic, the library will be an iconic marker for a great moment in the
architectural history of Malawi and for all of Africa; especially Malawi, which has been
away from modern civilization for so long.”
Malawi, called “The Warm Heart of Africa” has a population of 16.7 million. It is
among the smallest countries in Africa (Lake Malawi is 1/3 its area). It is among the
world’s least developed countries with the world’s lowest income per person
(according to World Bank Report). The Miracle for Africa Foundation aims to serve the
people of Malawi and Africa in need by expanding healthcare, education, and
agricultural opportunities.
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Steven Holl Architects has realized architectural works nationally and overseas, with extensive experience in
the arts (including museum, gallery and exhibition design), campus and educational facilities, residential
work and master planning. Steven Holl Architects is a 40-person architecture and urban design office
founded in 1976, and working globally as one office from two locations; New York City and Beijing. Steven
Holl leads the office with partners Chris McVoy and Noah Yaffe. Most recently completed are the University
of Iowa Visual Arts Building (Iowa City, IA) in October 2016; Ex of IN House (Rhinebeck, NY) in 2016; Reid
Building at the Glasgow School of Art (Glasgow, UK), completed in April 2014; Campbell Sports Center at
Columbia University (New York, NY), completed in March 2013; and the Daeyang Gallery and House (Seoul,
Korea) completed in June 2012. Steven Holl Architects currently has eight projects under construction,
including the John F. Kennedy Center Expansion in Washington, D.C.; the Glassell School of Art and
Museum of Fine Arts Houston; the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University; Maggie’s Centre Barts
in London, UK and the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA.
For more information on the Miracle for Africa Foundation, please visit
http://www.miracleforafrica.daeyangmission.org/
For more information on Steven Holl Architects, please visit www.stevenholl.com
Press Contact
Julia van den Hout
Original Copy
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