The House of Wisdom is the latest model for the future libraries in the emirate, the edifice that blends in its design the aesthetics of ancient Arab architecture and contemporary engineering.
Sitting on an area of 12,000 square metres, the House of Wisdom receives the visitors with its glass design, prominent and tall metal roof and its surrounding gardens that include 331 trees and water fountains, taking them on an exceptional tour between shelves of more than 300,000 titles in various fields and specialisations, 11 of which are multilingual, 105,000 paper books, and about 250,000 e-books.
As soon as the visitor begins his tour, he finds himself in front of an inner garden that resembles a glass box, containing plants and water fountains that suggest to the visitor that he is in the East Asian mountains, and in the most calm and serene places in the world. It is not surprising, however, that this garden in the centre of the place, appears like a large lamp with an open roof that allows the sunlight to illuminate the whole place.
The place tells its story in all its details, as at the entrances to the lobbies, halls and rooms, there appear names that seem familiar at first glance, but they invite questions. As soon as the visitor reads the “Ibn Duraid Hall”, he invokes the history of science and knowledge across the Arab and Islamic ages, asking himself: Who is Ibn Duraid? It is true also when he reads a painting referring to "Al Khwarizmi Gallery".
Reading the introduction to Ibn Duraid, who is one of the most prominent poets and linguists who lived in the third century AH, the visitor realises that the "House of Wisdom" wants to tell everyone who enters it that this modern library in its future form, where robots move in the corridors, is based on memory and history of a deep and great culture that Arab civilisation gifted to humanity in various fields of knowledge, literature and art. Each of the House of Wisdom’s 15 halls and lobbies bear the name of an ancient Arab poet or scientist of medicine, mathematics, chemistry, language and others.
The high-tech library includes interactive facilities and is a home to vast digital resources, a fabrication lab with 3D printers to build prototypes of experimental projects and cutting-edge technology to print and bind books within minutes.
If you want quiet time, the library’s futuristic suspended private pods offer up a haven for quiet reading. For learning, a host of collaborative community spaces are available and designed in a way that promotes academic and non-academic pursuits, social learning and cultural interaction.
The House of Wisdom also includes lecture halls, reading lounges, exhibition spaces, a dedicated children’s educational area, a central courtyard, a café and restaurant.
The visitor can also enjoy the outdoor landscaped garden, which features 331 trees including fig, ghaf and palm trees of different species and overlooks ‘The Scroll’ monument, which was built to celebrate Sharjah’s win of the World Book Capital Title in 2019 as named by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Regarding the importance and uniqueness of the place, Marwa Al Aqroubi, Director of the House of Wisdom, explained that this cultural edifice constitutes an exceptional case that reflects the development project of the Emirate of Sharjah, which is based on the human being and his knowledge value and on the society with its stability, productivity and level of culture, as well as confirming through the naming chosen by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, that the roots of the cultural and civilisational project of the emirate are an extension and natural product of the Arab civilisation project, which constituted the historical House of Wisdom as one of its most important manifestations and achievements.
She added that the House of Wisdom, in addition to its cultural status, holds a social and developmental value, as it includes spaces of various functions, providing an ideal environment for family meeting and interaction between different groups, nationalities and cultures on a common human basis, and it is also a model for what large societies should be as it embraces all means of social life and promotes the culture of reading, practicing constructive dialogue, and spending ideal times that open a window on the sciences and technologies that facilitate access to sources of knowledge, thus being a message from Sharjah to the region and the world, stating that culture and knowledge are essential necessities to build stable, strong and ambitious societies.
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