Design

LJ’s 2024 Year in Architecture trends see libraries simultaneously designing for pragmatic concerns, such as safety and site constraints, and an equally important quotient of delight—achieving harmony in the process!

Color, color everywhere! To create welcoming, dynamic spaces, libraries have integrated vivid colors into their designs to connect, invite, comfort, and even surprise.

This year’s crop of libraries demonstrates a continued commitment to the well-being of library workers and patrons through biophilic design, a tried-and-true construct to connect people with nature in hopes of improving human health.

The successful renovation of a historic structure for contemporary use is a vivid example of how libraries respond to rapidly evolving community conditions. This year, a variety of approaches create modern facilities that honor history.

Designing for delight and flexibility is demonstrated in many of this year’s submissions, fostering gathering, play, and communal experiences.

As libraries expand into community hubs serving multiple purposes, they have introduced playfulness into their designs to encourage exploration, discovery, and above all, wonder.

Libraries continue to emerge from the pandemic, with spaces designed to promote social interaction along with quiet study—places that work for everyone.

LJ’s 2024 Year in Architecture trends see libraries simultaneously designing for pragmatic concerns, such as safety and site constraints, and an equally important quotient of delight—achieving harmony in the process!

The data for new academic library buildings and renovations featured in LJ's Year in Architecture 2024.