New Aarhus library rated the world’s best

Dokk1 has put a grin on the ‘City of Smiles’

The Dokk1 library in Aarhus was been awarded the prestigious ‘Systematic – Public Library of the Year 2016’ award as the best new public library in the world.

It’s the first time that the award, handed out by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), has been awarded to a Danish library.

”Dokk1 is an unusually successful encounter between two beautiful Danish traditions: on one hand, our cultural ambitions to open up all branches of knowledge to every generation and social class and, on the other hand, our sense of functional and beautiful design,” said the culture minister, Bertel Haarder.

“Dokk1 is an excellent example of how you create visionary and modern architecture that takes into account the library’s many, diverse tasks and digital opportunities. I am very happy about the prize, which is a huge credit to Aarhus.”

READ MORE: Construction error on culture centre in Aarhus will cost millions to fix

Beacon in Aarhus
Libraries from the US and Australia were also nominated for the prize – those in the running needed to have opened between January 2014 and June 2016.

Rabih Azad-Ahmad, the culture alderman of Aarhus Municipality, travelled to Ohio, USA to accept the award on behalf of the ‘City of Smiles’.

Dokk1 was designed by the Danish architecture firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen and has been in use since June 2015. Over 1 million people have already passed through its doors.

Aside from the library, Dokk1 also houses a citizen service, a parking garage and a multi-purpose hall, and in 2017, the future Aarhus light rail will include a stop under the library.

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