What makes a good Library? Is it the selection of books on the shelf? Is it the space? The librarians? The sense of organization? Light? Silence? Style?

Or is it a place where we can change for the better? 

Just west of Mitaka, Musashino Place just might achieve all of the above.

Opened in 2012, Musashino Place is a combination between a Library and community center, with facilities for lifelong learning, self study, and activities for teenagers and young adults. The center was designed by kw + hg architects, creating a unique and flexible space that fulfils its various uses with a sense of beauty, openness and comfort.

The central motif of the building’s design are its rounded corners: It’s almost impossible to find a right angle within the space, with each wall blending smoothly into the ceilings and neighboring surfaces. The impression is like being inside of a bright, milk-colored cocoon. Libraries are already extremely cozy spaces, and by rounding off every sharp edge, kw + hg have created a calming and nurturing environment with an overwhelming sense of peace and focus.

Besides the library, the basement also contains a sound room for practicing drums, a crafts studio, performance space, and an area for young adults. The building also contains a cafe on the ground floor, and a variety of large and small classrooms that are used by private tutors, classes, meetings, and public events. Recent events range in topic from Astronomy lectures to Lyre lessons, and even Sake tasting.

If I lived in the area, It’s the kind of place I could see myself visiting every day– exploring the building, I discovered a real sense of play and flow to its design, and although it may be cliche to call every smooth and minimal structure ‘futuristic’, I really did feel like I had stumbled into some kind of imaginary place. If the creation of environments like these allow us to make our daily lives more extraordinary, then the real service of architecture like this is to deepen the sense of belonging and inspiration that we take from our local domains: A place like this is an incubator for community.

At their best, libraries are a place of escape, connection, and transformation. This makes them a potent subject for architectural exploration, perhaps because the base requirements are so minimal: Books on shelves, somewhere to check them out, somewhere to put them back. Make it comfortable, well-lit, easy to explore, and the rest is a blank page – the only constraints are your imagination and budget. 

Tokyo is home to dozens of these statement libraries: Waseda university’s Haruki Murakami Library designed by Sou Fujimoto, the massive Kadokawa Culture Museum Library by Kengo Kuma and Associates, the cave-like Tama Art University Library designed by Toyo Ito & Associates, and the jagged Nakamachi Terrace Library designed by SANAA. But out of all of them, Musashino Place strikes an incredible balance of architectural vision with a sense of functionality and genuine, inviting atmosphere. This is a place for everybody.

Hours: 9:30 to 22:00 

(Library closed on Wednesdays and New Years)

Website: https://www.musashino.or.jp/place/index.html

Architect’s website: https://kwhg.co.jp/musashino-place/

Phone number: 0422-30-1900