The Slovenian minority that lives in Trieste wants to integrate with the local community. One of the ways to do this is to create points of contact between Slovenian culture and the inhabitants of Trieste.
The point of contact in this case is the Ts 360 bookshop and meeting place, just a short walk from Piazza Oberdan.
The interior spaces of Ts 360 have been designed according to the age of potential users: young people have spaces from which they can access the Internet and tablets on which they can read e-books; younger children have a special reading corner with numerous games and planned activities. Finally, for older customers, there is a relaxation area with lots of chairs, right in the middle of the bookshop.
Slovenian culture is also echoed in the shape of the shelves: SoNo Arhitekti have reproduced the decoration of the facades of Narodni Dom (the House of the People), the leading symbol of fascist persecution of Slovenian minorities in Venezia Giulia. The geometric decorative element has been broken and transformed into the base element for the pattern of the shelves.
The interiors are mainly in wood. Large windows look onto the outside through the colonnade of the building, making the library a lively and integral part of the city.
These large windows are not only aesthetic, but also symbolic: a symbol of Slovenian culture that opens itself to the city and its inhabitants as also the name, Ts 360, suggests.
Francesco Cibati
Architect: Edvard Blazko – SoNo Arhitekti
Place: Trieste
Year:2015
Photo: Žiga Lovšin
http://sono.si/