Founded in 1916, the School of Oriental Studies (Africa was added to the school’s name in 1938) was initially an instrument of the British state to strengthen its colonial presence in Asia and Africa. Students included colonial administrators, military officers and spies preparing for their overseas postings. This utilitarian bend also tied funding and official recognition of the school to the vagaries of foreign policy and realpolitik priorities until the Second World War exposed the strategic importance of foreign language expertise for British intelligence officers. Servicemen started piling up on SOAS’ benches to train in 192 “Uncommon Languages” and help them decode intercepted communications.
After the war, the School of Oriental and African Studies finally had the financial and administrative support it needed to function and started flourishing. By the end of the 1960s, it became clear that the school’s then location on Tavistock Square could no longer accommodate its academic staff, students and more crucially, its rapidly growing library, whose collections were so extensive and sought after that its status rivalled that of a national library. With the help of the Rockefeller Foundation, funding was secured to build a new library and plans were drafted by Denys Lasdun, then in the vanguard of modern British architecture.
Completed in 1973, Lasdun’s Brutalist SOAS library is organized around a classical central atrium lit by angled skylights shining through a concrete diagrid ceiling. Layered “trays” of bookstacks gradually step down around the atrium towards the reading room below, now dedicated to computer terminals. Wrapping that central space are over 200 rooms lining the facade. The library was later named in honour of former SOAS director Professor C. H. Philips.
In 2007, glazing was added over two of the jutting exterior terraces to form bright long working rooms lined with wooden tables. This discreet extension by John McAslan and Partners was reportedly approved by Lasdun shortly before his passing in 2001, and was completed before the building received Grade II listing status in 2011.
The SOAS library is a truly remarkable and relatively well-preserved example of post-war British library design. Access to the library for the general public is limited but available upon advance registration.
References
- Philips, C. (2003). A history of SOAS, 1917-67. In D. Arnold & C. Shackle (Eds.), SOAS since the sixties (pp. 21–43). School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London).
- Price, K. (2015). The Philips Building by Denys Lasdun – home of SOAS Library. SOAS Centenary Timeline.
- Webster, K., & Seton, R. (2003). The SOAS Library and archives. In D. Arnold & C. Shackle (Eds.), SOAS since the sixties (pp. 129–145). School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London).
- Philips Building, School of Oriental and African Studies, Non Civil Parish—1401342 | Historic England. (2011).
- Lasdun, Sir Denys. (2003). In Grove Art Online. Retrieved November 11, 2022
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