Haworth Tompkins has completed the transformational redevelopment of The Warburg Institute in London, one of the world’s leading centres for the study of art and culture. Founded by Aby Warburg in Hamburg in 1900, the Warburg Institute has been part of the School of Advanced Study, University of London since 1944. Its open-stack Library, Photographic Collection and Archive serve as an engine for interdisciplinary research, postgraduate teaching and a prestigious events and publication programme. It is housed in a historic Charles Holden Building, as part of the University of London’s Bloomsbury campus.
The refurbishment project presented a unique opportunity for the re-birth of the Warburg Institute, to open its hidden collections up to new audiences and facilitate a more public-facing programme. The project brief was expanded beyond the repair of the long-neglected fabric and infrastructure, to include new and enhanced spaces, the Institute’s first public gallery, a dramatic 140-seat auditorium, improved teaching spaces and new storage and study areas for the Library, Archives and a state of the art centre for Special Collections. The unique Library Collection, the largest in the world focused on the afterlife of antiquity and the survival and transmission of culture, is housed over four stories preserving Aby Warburg’s original system of organisation with one floor each devoted to subjects of Image, Word, Orientation and Action. A reconfiguration to the layout of the shelving has expanded stack areas to make space for new acquisitions to the growing collection of 360,000 volumes, and it has opened up the library to natural light. Other enhancements throughout the building incorporate the refurbishment of the reception area, in which the newly restored Coade stone frieze of the nine muses of the arts and sciences is installed to welcome visitors upon entry.
“Through the Warburg Renaissance project we set out to honour the legacy of both its architect Charles Holden and founder Aby Warburg, while opening its unique contents up to new audiences. Striking a balance between modernisation of the Institute’s publicly accessible aspects, alongside the preservation of its extraordinary character and atmosphere has been a forensic and important process. Its architectural re-birth will allow continued discovery and enjoyment of the collections for many future generations.” Elizabeth Flower, Project Architect, Haworth Tompkins
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The Warburg Renaissance Project transformed the Warburg Institute into a more open, accessible and public-facing institution, revealing hidden collections to new audiences and the public for the first time in its history, expanding capacity for 20 years of future growth and securing its cultural legacy through sensitive restoration, sustainable design and improved facilities for research, teaching and public engagement.
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