The Aranne Library, the central library of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, was designed by architects Shulamit Nadler, Michael Nadler, Shmuel Bixon, Moshe Gil and Shimshon Amitai, in accordance with the Brutalist architectural ethic. Brutalism seeks "to express the structure's truth: its functional, materalistic and local truth and the movement within it". The name Brutalism comes from the term béton brut, which means in French "bare concrete". (Shadar, pg. 208)
The library's cornerstone was laid on February 23, 1971. The building, which was the first to be built on the new campus, is situated in the main square of the campus, which is located near the northern entrance to Beer Sheva, the capital of the Negev. Among the ideas which inspired and guided the architects in the design of the building:
The library constitutes a point of convergence between the private and the public: private corners for study and concentration, bays creating balconies on different levels from which readers overlook a common space - the symbol of the connection between the different disciplines of knowledge. The equation: “the library = collection + light" expresses the perception of the architects that the library's collection of knowledge – which is the heart of hearts of the campus – this treasure is not hidden, rather it is presented on open shelves, saturated with light. The light of the Negev, present in abundance for most of the year, natural light which filters into the library's space from the North via a hundred cupolas made of glass mosaic. The blending of light and matter, the cupolas combined with the exposed concrete – symbol of existence and durability in the dust and erosion of the Negev Desert – this blending is the source of the image and the mark of identification of the Library of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
For further information.
Bibliography:
Nadler, Shulamit, et.al., "Ha-Sifriyah ha-Merkazit be-Universitat ha-Negev, Be'er Sheva", Arkhitekturah be-Yisrael: Shenaton Yisrael le-Arkhitekturah u-Vinuy 'Arim. 1979, 42-47.
Shadar, Hadas, Beer-Sheva: Brutalist and Neo-Brutalist Architecture. Tel Aviv, Bauhaus Center Tel Aviv-Yafo, 2014.
Selected original documents from the office of the Library Director.
