Interior architect Ira Koers and visual artist and graphic designer Roelof Mulder were asked to design a ‘temporary’ interior for the library of the University of Amsterdam. The task applied to 2,500 m2 of reading rooms, 235 additional workspaces, a canteen, an information centre and a room for the new, automated check-out system. As well as rooms that the designers themselves describe as ‘a blank page in a book’, on which the students can leave their mark, there are spaces that evoke a sense of domesticity.

The concept results in a ‘family’ of integrated elements which, although related, also have an identity of their own. The space is characterised by clarity, colour richness, humour, and a strong graphic quality.