boring white monstrosity

Went to visit the new National Library today. I wasn't expecting much and as it turned out, everything was pretty much underwhelming and somewhat boring. We had the project manager explain to us the functional and ecological aspects of the building (which included a short description of what is low emissivity double glazing *yawn*). He also "interestingly" pointed out that the central lending library in the basement is for books that can be borrowed out and the reference library on the higher level is for books that cannot be borrowed out(duh!). The presentation was obviously recycled from another presentation which was not targeted at people who couldn't care less about architecture.

Everything in the new building was nice and new, the spaces were mostly bright and generous but there was nothing extraordinary. The spatial concept is purely functional and does not show much attempt to comment on the role of the library in the larger society or experiment with ways of how a library can function (if there is, I can't really see it and the people didn't really explain it). One thing I do like about the building was the observation pod on the 16th level. Its bulging glass facade provided some thrills but it really has nothing to do with a library and will not be open to the public when the library opens in July.

I took quite a few pictures of the interiors however I decided that there is really nothing worth showing.

Went to dinner later at Nanjya Monjya which was much more fun. We had okonomiyaki made live on a hotpan in front of us. I liked it but you can tell from the picture that it wasn't Justin's favorite food.