"Oh students, study mathematics and do not build without foundations": the quote from Leonardo da Vinci that welcomes visitors at the entrance of the new University Library in Mesiano is an invitation to study and to learn the basics of knowledge. It's an invitation that cannot be ignored: with its 320 places, bright windows and rows of books placed in order on the shelves, the building that was inaugurated today in the Mesiano park is the ideal place to focus to prepare for exams.
The new building, with sober and clean lines, was built along the lane that leads to the main entrance of the Mesiano campus. Its main building, designed by Giovanni Leo Salvotti de Bindis, was originally a sanatorium and over the years has been flanked by other buildings that house laboratories and classrooms of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering. The new library replaced some pre-existing temporary buildings, and now redefines this area of the park towards the city. From the internal windows you can enjoy a unique view of the historic center of Trento, its valley and its mountains.
The numbers of the Mesiano University Library
The building is almost two thousand square meters large, with a usable floor area of 1450 square metres including 820 square meters of reading rooms, 150 of conference rooms, 260 for archives and 150 for services. The ideal place to make room for volumes and journals on architecture and engineering: there are over 80,000 books (33,000 monographs and a thousand journal titles, in addition to the extensive collection of eBooks and electronic resources that can be consulted thanks to the university wifi connection) which are located on the 2540 meters of shelves. It is the most important public bibliographic collection in the engineering sector, unique in the field of architecture and technical regulations. A point of reference not only for the students of the Department, but also for the professionals of the city.
The volumes cover a variety of subjects: Engineering, Architecture, Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Geology, Biology, Oenology, Food Sciences. The website of the University Library System offers constantly updated information on resources, spaces and opening hours. The library is part of the Trentino Bibliographic Catalog (CBT) and collaborates, in particular, with the libraries of the MART Museum and of Fondazione Edmund Mach.
"This library is a jewel among the libraries of the university, but also contributes significantly to increase the value of the provincial, public and open libraries. It is not simply a place where books are stored, nor a library for technicians only, but a beautiful place, where people can meet, a place where the community is welcome", commented the President of the Library Council, Massimo Miglietta.
Two levels of the building house the reading rooms and consultation area. The first floor, at the level of the entrance road, is completely above ground while the second floor is partially underground and can only be seen when looking up from the valley. A basement level completes the building providing storage room.
The main entrance is along the access lane, enhanced by an open-air platform with view on the city and the valley. From here you have access to the upper floor and you can reach the lower floor in different ways. The volume has an irregular shape that follows the natural shape of the hill, which made it possible to create a succession of compressed and dilated internal spaces. Large openings connect internal spaces with the external landscape. The east side, on the access lane, has large glass openings from which you can take a look inside.
"This building is spread over almost 1500 square meters of floor area, about the same as five basketball courts - explained Marco Dorigatti, director of the Estates Department of the University of Trento. Imagine the 80 thousand volumes and one thousand magazines as a long shelf that from the Department of Engineering continues down to Piazza Venezia in Trento. A team of internal and external professionals and different firms worked together to build this beautiful construction, that everyone can see. A highly sustainable, almost passive building which, for example, exploits a constant temperature of about 15 degrees for heating, taking it from 150 meters deep underground".
Construction costs amount to just over 2.3 million (approximately 1,193 euro per square meter), to which must be added 357 thousand euro for furnishings, almost 87 thousand euro for lighting and over 38 thousand euro for audio and video systems.
A new set-up for Mesiano
The project falls within the overall reorganization of the Mesiano campus, which is part of the works planned in the agreement with the provincial government for the expansion of the university. To continue to be used, the Engineering Library in the main building of the Department needed major renovation works to comply with safety and security standards. Having examined the various options, the technicians of UniTrento focused on the opportunity to build a new library, a solution deemed the most suitable to provide study spaces in a comfortable environment. After the refurbishment works, the Engineering Department will be able to use the area of old library to create new classrooms and laboratories.
Weber + Winterle associates took care of the architecture design, Adriano Bernardi designed the structural project and Oscar Nichelatti was responsible for systems and plants. The works and the interior design were supervised by a working group made up of technicians from the University's Architecture Services.
The works were carried out in several lots. Excavations, geological surveys, and other works were performed in the first lot. It took about two years to complete the construction, which is in reinforced concrete structures with large glass openings that connect the interior of the library with the external landscape.
Sustainability and comfort
The heating and cooling system is highly innovative. The building is equipped with a geothermal heat pump and an air/water heat pump that can work together. The systems will also be monitored by the Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering (Paolo Baggio and Alessandro Prada) to analyze the performance in terms of efficiency. The building is also equipped with a complex home automation management system.
It is a high energy performance building (class A +). Even the walls are sustainable, made with recycled aggregate (between 75 and 80%) from the local mining industry. A system for the collection of rainwater reduces the need for water.
Oak wood floors and ceiling panels with sound-absorbing materials ensure indoor comfort. The windows and floors provide thermal efficiency, using non-toxic materials formaldehyde and heavy metal free.
The bespoke furnishings, shelving and tables, with environmental certification, were designed and built for this library. The colors of shelves and tables make the rooms welcoming and suitable for concentration.
The lighting on the tables has been designed to have direct and indirect light, and varies with the varying degree of lighting that comes from the outside. In fact, all LED lamps are dimmable, as the building is equipped with natural light sensors. The windows are equipped with blackout curtains that can be controlled through the building's home automation system.
Outside, trees line the access lane, which has been repaved. The lawn and the green areas are equipped with an irrigation system.
The inauguration ceremony
The inauguration ceremony of the new Mesiano Library, today, took place in compliance with covid-19 restrictions. That is why it was broadcast on the University's YouTube channel and is available on the dedicated web page: https://www.unitn.it/inaugurazione-bum.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by the Rector of the University of Trento, Flavio Deflorian, the president of the Student Council, Edoardo Giudici, the Mayor of Trento, Franco Ianeselli, the provincial councilor for urban planning, environment and cooperation and vice-president Mario Tonina, Marco Dorigatti, head of the Estates Department of the University of Trento, and Massimo Miglietta, president of the Library Council.
"I am excited to be here today, in a place that I have come to know as a student, a young researcher, a professor, and now as Rector," said Flavio Deflorian. "This library is the result of a great work, and we are pleased to inaugurate it in a moment of partial reopening of our activities in presence: the right time for encouragement. My mandate has just begun, and I therefore want to thank all those who, before me, worked to achieve this result".
With these words, Deflorian invited the previous rector to take the stage. "It also happened to me to inaugurate a library at the beginning of my mandate, designed and built by those who came before me", commented Paolo Collini. "It was the BUC, the library designed by Renzo Piano. On that occasion we discussed the future of books, of digital resources, of these great changes. And we understood that whatever the future of books is, what remains and will remain is the library as a place where people meet, share ideas, discover new things. And beauty, that will remain as a value. Beauty that certainly belongs to this building".
Tomorrow, 6 May, the library will open its doors to students, the academic community, citizens. With Covid restrictions in place, opening hours will be from 8.00 to 19.45 from Monday to Friday (then the closing will be extended until 21.25). The President of the Student Council, Edoardo Giudici, expressed satisfaction from the student community. "I am happy to be here, because today is not only the end of a long journey but also perhaps the start of a new phase. After months of online lessons, students are looking forward to new spaces for socializing and networking. It will be a pleasure to look up and find ourselves immersed in books, in these landscapes, to look at this city that is ours even if we are not from here. When we ask for reopenings it is not on a whim, and we do not think that the university somehow owes it to us. We ask for reopening because we think that education, the University's first mission, necessarily passes through places like this".
The Mayor of Trento, Franco Ianeselli, welcomed the new library: "I thank the University of Trento because this building is a beautiful gift to the city. "The founding of libraries - Marguerite Yourcenar wrote - was like constructing more public granaries, amassing reserves against a spiritual winter". The pandemic forced us into a particularly long winter, and we are therefore very grateful for this new granary in the city. There are not two cities, that of the Trentino people and that of university students. There is only one city, and in fact in this period we have missed the university. If Trento has its place in the world, it owes it also and above all to the University. With the University we must therefore build together, work on spaces and create common perspectives".
"The inauguration of this library - added the provincial councilor for urban planning, environment and cooperation and vice-president Mario Tonina - represents a significant moment for the city of Trento and in general for the whole of Trentino. First of all, because it significantly strengthens the offer of cultural services in support of students and promotes a place where students, professors and researchers can meet. And secondly because this building is in a very a special area of the city, a hill with a high concentration of study spaces, knowledge and scientific excellence, where other infrastructure will be created, to improve mobility, for example, to support the growth of the university centers and the quality of life of residents. This library is another piece of the puzzle that demonstrates the commitment of the Province, the Municipality and the University to the future, to education and to the independence of young people".
New names for the libraries
On the occasion of the inauguration of the Mesiano University Library (BUM), the Academic Senate of the University of Trento decided to rename the other libraries as well. In addition to the Central University Library (BUC), in the Albere district, the Science Library changes its name to Povo University Library (BUP) and the Cognitive Science Library becomes the Rovereto University Library (BUR).
The changes will be accompanied by a revision of the design.