Futuristic library House of Wisdom opens in Sharjah

Our Correspondent

Sharjah has a new cultural edifice and iconic architectural marvel in keeping with the emirate’s year-long tenure as UNESCO World Book Capital 2019 – the House of Wisdom situated near the University City of Sharjah. It was inaugurated by H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, on December 9.

Reimagined as a library of the 21st century, the House of Wisdom has been designed as an immersive space for learning, sharing, creating, and accessing knowledge. Built in modern architectural style, it has 15 lobbies and halls spread across two storeys set on an elevated platform spanning 12,000 square metres. Natural light bathes the key spaces like the huge lobby, the Al Rasheed Hall, the Espresso Books, Knowledge Terrace, the Wisdom Vault and the Al Ma’moun Exhibition; the Little Reader, the Wisdom Square, the Ibn Duraid Reading Area, the Al Jazri Lab, the Ladies Diwan, the Al Jarhmi Library, and the Al Khawarizmi Exhibition.

Developed by Shurooq, the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, the new knowledge centre and digital library complex represents libraries of the future – a flexible design that allows the library to grow with the times, vast digital resources, a fabrication lab with 3D printers to build prototypes of experimental projects and cutting-edge technology to print and bind books within minutes. The library’s futuristic suspended private pods for quiet reading and a host of collaborative community spaces are designed in a way that promotes academic and non-academic pursuits, social learning and cultural interaction.

Designed by Foster + Partners, an award-winning architectural firm, the structure also includes lecture halls, reading lounges, exhibition spaces, a dedicated children’s educational area, a central courtyard, a café, a restaurant, and outdoor gardens where you will find local varieties of fig, ghaf and palm trees.

The library will be home to 305,000 books, of which 200,000 are in the digital format and 11,000 hard copies in various languages. The children’s library called “The Little Reader” houses more than 2,000 books, while the library dedicated to youth has 3,000 titles.

There is a “Book espresso machine” that can print and bind books on demand in minutes, along with the digital self-service station.

The Al Jazari Laboratory (Fabrication Lab), named in honour of scientific inventor Badi Alzaman Al Jazar (1136 AD – 1206 AD), is equipped with state-of-the-art 3D printers, laser and vinyl cutting machines, and Computer Numerical Control tools.

There are spaces dedicated to women and children, such as the Ladies Diwan and a library for children aged between 3 and 10 years.

Iraqi-born, New York-based artist Wafaa Bilal’s solo exhibition titled “168: 01” is showing at the centre now. The exhibition conveys the historic loss caused by a fire that destroyed more than 70,000 books at the library of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Baghdad in 2003. A prominent exhibit features a makeshift library filled with empty white books. Visitors to the exhibition are invited to replace the blank books with real ones to restore the destroyed collection in Iraqi universities and institutes in Baghdad, Mosul, Babylon, as well as in the Iraqi National Museum. Another display is of ‘The Ashes Series’, a collection of detailed miniature reconstructions of original press photographs that captured the destruction caused by the Iraq War.

The Al Rasheed Hall is a space for hosting seminars, events, and conferences. The landscaped gardens feature 331 trees of 12 different species. It overlooks the Sharjah World Book Capital 2019 monument, “The Scroll” – a 36.5-metre piece of public art created by British sculptor Gerry Judah.