Steven Holl Architects has announced that new rippled-roof library at the center of a new campus has been approved by the Miracle for Africa Foundation. The 6,130 square-metre (66,000 sq. ft.) library is organized via a section that provides maximum reflected light to the interior with optimum solar PV collection on the roofs. 

Natural light bouncing off curved prefabricated roof structures made of Ductile concrete form space like a 'field within a field'. The library is arranged as a free plan, including archives and meeting rooms encased in glass for humidity control. A central rain collecting pool demarks the main circulation desk and ripples through the roof geometry like a wave field in cloud-like light. 

The construction will utilize local stone and bamboo and local labor. Screens of locally crafted bamboo define the building perimeter leaving a shaded arcade space all around. This library will be the initial construction of a new campus whose plan morphology has been inspired by paintings of a Malawi batik artist. 

The client, Mr. Y.K. Chung, chairman of the Miracle for Africa Foundation, made the following comments following the design presentation: ''There is great excitement about this project as an artistic masterpiece, and about the solar energy concept as it works with maximal light, ventilation, and humidity control. I’m astonished at the consideration and interpretation of Malawian batik art, the reflective pool, waves in a field of light, and the philosophical axes of the campus. This project is historic, the library will be an iconic marker for a great moment in the architectural history of Malawi and for all of Africa; especially Malawi, which has been away from modern civilization for so long.''

Malawi, called 'The Warm Heart of Africa' has a population of 16.7 million. It is among the smallest countries in Africa (Lake Malawi is 1/3 its area). It is among the world’s least developed countries with the world’s lowest income per person (according to World Bank Report). 

The Miracle for Africa Foundation aims to serve the people of Malawi and Africa in need by expanding healthcare, education, and agricultural opportunities.

Steven Holl Architects recently completed Ex of In House in the natural landscape of Rhinebeck, New York, exploring new typologies on 'guest houses', and the Visual Arts Building at the University of Iowa, US-a new state of the art building includes visual arts media space, galleries, faculty offices, an outdoor rooftop studio, and teaching spaces for Art History. 

Meanwhile, the studio also works on a snake-shaped mixed-use project called Meander, featuring apartment blocks and offices-is located in Helsinki’s cultural and historical (Sibelius lived nearby) district Taka-Töölö.

All images © Steven Holl Architects

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