Space of knowledge

The exhibition reveals the topic of spatial design of Russian libraries in historical retrospect and indicates the vector of their development in the future. In the center of the exhibition are models of updated library spaces in the Khabarovsk Territory, similar to model libraries, created by students of the Institute of Architecture and Design of the Pacific State University. Modern artistic solutions are complemented by architectural projects from the Museum’s collection. The author's graphics and historical photographs reveal not only the history of architectural typology, but also its artistic solutions: from public and private libraries of Pre-Revolutionary Russia, reading huts of the first half of the twentieth century to the laconic solutions of the era of modernism of the 1960-1980s.

In 2019, the federal project “Cultural Environment” of the national project “Culture” was launched to create model municipal libraries based on the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of May 7, 2018 “On the national goals and strategic objectives of the development of the Russian Federation for the period until 2024.” The project gave impetus to the development of the Russian library network, which includes 36 thousand municipal libraries. Many of them were not given due attention for many years: the funds were not updated, and the reading rooms and storage spaces themselves needed repairs and modern equipment.

The exhibition is based on student mock-ups of design projects for renovating the interior spaces of nine municipal libraries in the Khabarovsk Territory, selected based on the results of the competition of the national project “Culture”.