collage of form and space

the form of the ground (above the new library design) as it develops in relation to existing site and existing library and existing use_ _ _+mass/ void...greenscape/hardscape... sunken gardens_ using registration lines from existing site condition as to not alientate a much use space for students i.e. collinade, grids, greenscape etc+_ _ _

New Site/ New Site Articulation: Here are some photos.

The first images are a series of images from a study model done in wax that I used to experiment the condition of the site where my building from under ground meets the ground. The left image is of the under side of the study model which is of the "ceiling" of the building. The middle image is of the under site of the model and is a shadow study. The left image is of the study model of the ground condition in design.

The second images are of the (new) site that I am relocating my design to, the site is on the west side of the existing library where the grove of trees and quad are now. This site is denoted by the orange on the site plan.

New Ideas to Move Forward

"Because that's the part (_concept_) the architect determines. Most of the time, the content-the program- is given elsewhere. I can modify it, I can transform it, I can subvert, but generally it is initiated elsewhere. In the same way, I can modify the reading of the context, but it is also given. The concept, however, isn't a given; it's what I, as an architect, have to generate. Nevertheless, it is somehow contaminated, transformed, or deformed by context and content. " - Bernard Tschumi



After reading this text from Enrique Walker's published conversation with Tschumi in Tschumi on Architecture I have come to realize how true this is. Especially in regards to this project I believe that my concept is the most crucial element in the design, not structure not HVAC systems, not egress stairs. From here I need to reevaluate my concept. Should a building that is attempting to portray a LIBRARY OF POWER be under the earth. Should the books be contained in one single element? Should the books be reachable? Should we progress through different levels that attempt to overwhelm and deceive while showcasing a ever present mass of books?
From this point I am focusing on making the presence of the library have more of an impact on the site, enhancing the idea of power/ control over people. This move will give the concept of power a more literal reading than that of the power of knowledge. I do believe this move will make my project more powerful (no pun intended). However the criticism that the siting of the project should be relocated to the side of the library withing the tree grove gives this enhanced conceptual reading both negatives and positives. Yes i can draw registration lines off the mass of the existing stack and would be more feasible for "disrupting the site", HOWEVER, a move off the main quad, I believe would be doing a disservice to the idea of power that the project would be off to the side and not become a powerful landmark. The building would be out of the way and less experiential and rather would become an uninhabited zone on the campus. This zone now is used quite often as a grove of shade where students relax and study. If I manipulate the site here I would need to be sensible to the fact that I would be taking that away from the students. i think that any moves within this area, if I am still under ground, would need to continue to allow students to move about and use the area as their "playground". I think there is a large opportunity to make this area an interactive space for students and the library of power. The building will remain basically the same in concept and form but will now begin to be manipulated and skewed with the injection of programmatic elements and moves that will resolve conflicts in response to the site conditions.

Rethinking Post Mid Review

After Fridays mid review I am starting to reconsidered my siting of the project and the way the building meets the ground and interacts with the people on the ground level. Also I need to reevaluate my reasons for the building being underground and need to clean up/ refocus the idea of the stacks as power and the idea of the power of knowledge. I agree with the critics that the idea of this box that holds the stacks could become very bold but the development and articulation of the form and its interaction with the rest of the project needs to be done with great conviction and reason to be successful. The approach to the box and the way it becomes engaged need to be more meaningful. I especially appreciate the idea of the Beinecke Library at Yale and how that box is engaged. The sequence of moves and arrival, the threshold - do we enter the building at the beginning of the project or do we move through the reading rooms etc and then arrive at the books and then we are "in"? I think that capturing a sense of not being in the building or a single space until the stacks are reached is a quality that I have been trying to achieve throughout the project. I think that a lot of these conflicts and problems will become resolved with a move in site from the quad to the south of the library to the side of the library, drawing from the existing stacks, although I am hesitant in that becoming a solid move but it will be tried and tested.

Work in Progress

These images are of a sectional model and site section that will be presented Friday at the mid review.

Editting Space

As I move towards the Friday mid review, I am editing and cleaning up the spaces that have been created by the planes. I have decided best for the space of the stacks to with hold its integrity and become fully inpenatratable. Now all planes will gravitate around the stacks which will enhance the iconic-ness of the space. These pristine stacks will now be highlighted by the surrounding forms and will evoke an even more powerful sensibility. As the planes will do, the circulation will wrap around the stacks to give the people who transverse through the space a ever present view of the books, the power. With all the planes, and spaces and in turn the people gravitating, orbiting around the stacks, my thesis that the books hold the knowledge and the power will be put on displayed.

I have also looked to the precedent GGG house by Alberto Kalach for clues on how to edit the planes and articulate the resulting spaces. The use of material for transitions and to create plays on spatial sensibilities were drawn from this project.

Study Models

Study models of library

Conflict of Design

As always at the beginning of any design process the designer is faced with certain questions, conflicts. Early in this process I am faced with conflict between what gives books, knowledge their power. Is it the engagement, reading, interacting, experiencing and relating to the text, the author and ourselves? Is it the physical book, the fact that words and thesis' are written on the page? Is it the interaction between reader and author? Between author's ideas and readers interaction and interpretation, and in turn between the readers and their audiences? Where does knowledge come from? Is it this tangible entity that we can feel see smell; or is it this idea, this accumulation of thesis, hypothesis, interpretations, and understandings?
In regards to this design, How do I translate these answers into a library, a sanctuary of knowledge, a temple of thought, a church of ideas? How do I express the power of such intangible and tangle things in the form of an architecture? I have come to think that this project (and more honestly the process of designing this architecture) will answer these questions and more. As I move through the design I am directing the design towards showcasing the stacks as a beacon of knowledge, of power. However this “beacon” is engaged and the power of the knowledge within is evoked by planes that penetrate the façade and begin to manipulate and blur the edge of this beacon. The power of the books does not influence the people, the space, unless the books, the space of the stacks, are engaged. Once the knowledge is penetrated the intersecting planes, the reading rooms, allow for the following programs to exist. The support program, offices, auditoriums, and research, happen only as a result of the interaction between book and the engagement. The idea that the space of the stacks regulate the articulation of the reading rooms and support spaces enhances the thesis that knowledge extends to power and with the power of knowledge creates control. On the ground level this concept is strengthen through voids within the surface, sunken gardens and light wells, will manipulate and control the people above. Views down into the space will arouse a sense of the intangible, both idealistic theory and physical spaces, and tempt people to engage the library and approach the spaces sacredly. These views will also create panoptic relationship between the passerby and the underground realm of the library and the same is true looking from below out above. These experiences will embrace the concept of power through knowledge. The library will evoke the power of knowledge and the power of the engagement.

More Images on mapping

Library Conceptual Development

The first idea is developed from the form of my first and third mapping schemes. The idea of weaving planes and spaces developed from these plane. This design would be completely under ground and the power would come from control and manipulating the movement of people. The second scheme is a vertical tower that acts as a labirynth of planes that interact with eachother to create spaces. The final direction of my project is two combine the two schemes and develop the library complete under ground. The power of control but more over the power of knowledge will be key underlaying concepts that inform design.

Mapping final

The follow images are my final productions of my mapping. The first map projects the weaving of ideas and relationships that happen within the parameters of the humanities zone of campus. The second is a sectional study of the key relationships where there certain relationships and experiences happen. The final is a study of planes and renders the key defining plans on the campus more truly around the library. I believe and have experienced that the first, weaving, and the third, planes, are the most informative on my development of my library project. These two maps have aided in my thesis towards the designing a library that exudes power. The library of my design will focus on creating a beacon, the stacks, of power in which all things revolve. The power of knowledge as many before have discuss is the most influential thing on earth and the idea of control people and thing like this with knowledge is the projects goal. The knowledge will inform the rest of the planes within the design and the development of space. the