Libr - ation (library / transportation)

LIBR - ATION ( B ) 1

LIBR - ATIONLibrary for the 21st Century

C2 STUDIO - CD102 - LibrariumInstructors: Colin Booth and Tagore Hernandez

FALL 2013( B ) 1

LIBR - ATION

SITE ANALYSIS

SOMERVILLE AND CAMBRIDGE

The cities are comprised of numerous neighborhood that are defi ned by the multiple “Squares” that are located through out the area.

Each square is unique yet interconnected through public tran-sit and a shared interest in activating these squares through arts and engaging events.

It is the people of these communities that help to activate the public spaces that each one of these squares off er.

The squares are defi ned by their public transit stations. They give access to the area and reason to visit and gather in the square.

MASS DOTS Green Line Expansion Plan Proposed Green Line Tracks NEW UNION STATION NEW LIBRARY SITE

UNION SQUARE

Located adjacent to the Somerville / Cambridge border and plays an important role in helping to tie the communities together.

Currently the square does not have a Train Station that runs directly to the area, the existing public transit consists of several bus stops that are located throughout the area that help to service the community.

The proposed new Green Line Train Station will help to bring even more activity to the Square and bring a majority of its visitors to the site from the new Station that will be located just South of the Square.

SOMERVILLE

CAMBRIDGE

NEW LIBRARY SITE

NEW UNION STATION


SITE APPROACH

Physical boundaries of Union Square’s public space is really quiet small.

The approach to the site is made from four different directions. With the future location of the Green Line to the south of the site, a majority of the pedestrian traffic to the site will be coming up Prospect Street.

Somerville Ave.

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Somerville Ave.

Washingston St.

1. SCATV2. POST OFFICE3. POLICE STATION4. CHURCH

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UNION SQUARE STORE FRONTS

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Edges

Plaza

Nodes

SITE ANALYSIS

NEW UNION STATION

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Union Square is best be know for its rambunctious community gather-ings. Union Square is loaded with small bars with live music, unique cafes, open markets on the plaza, store fronts of various shops and a community TV Studio, SCATV, right on the square.

Also throughout the calendar year you will find a variety of FESTIVALS!

The small parking lot next to the plaza closes to accommodate the mass amount of people who come from all over to flood the streets in celebra-tion of these special community events.

PLAZA

SITE

Weekly Farmers Market Live Music on the Plaza

The Fluff Festival Movie Screenings

The HONK Festival The Fluff FestivalFlyers from Various Festivals

Proximity of the Site and the Public Plaza

SITE ANALYSIS

Cultural Observations


Recent survey by the City of Somerville shows the growing popularity of these events. These results are shown in the chart below.

Bar Chart lower right, shows how people had found out about the various events in Union Square.

Pie Chart to the right, shows that the Union Square Neighborhood has the largest percent-age of residence in Somerville that claim it as their home neighborhood.

SITE ANALYSIS

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Public Reading

The collage, comic strip shows a depiction of the power of curiosity, knowledge and coming together.

In many ways it illustrates my idealistic per-ception of common places, such as trans-portation station, and libraries that hold the potential to act as a catalysis for quiet modest interactions.

So many of us in this busy world hold sim-ilar interests and there are so few way to commonly share in these interest with the community around us.

The characters in the story tell how curi-osity of each other’s interests has brought them back and forth to the library to keep up with each other’s current new reads, till they eventually meet between the book shelves to share more than similar interest in books.

Public Transportation

Union Square was once accessible by the electric street car.

Means of public transportation was an asset back in those days. The station was a place for congregation, where the town would get together at a common meeting ground. These types of public spaces have become taken for granite more and more often. Places like public transportation stations have great opportunity to serve as a place for the local community to come together, share information, swap stories and catch up on current and local events.

Union Square shown here with the original street car that ran through it

SITE ANALYSIS


Making the Most of the Commute

Public transportation in the urban environment is a far more than a simple means of travel for many of us. It often serves as the break in the day where commuters can quietly, disturbingly sit and read.

Its not the idealistic hammock on the beach but has been the place where many novels have been digested, research papers studied, reports read, cross word puz-zles completed and new authors and titles discovered

SITE ANALYSIS

Making the Most of the Commute

The area today is serviced by a number of bus stations.Many residence access the area by public transporta-tion.

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PLAZA

The site boundaries given to us by our in-structors was located East of the plaza and separated from the square by a small but busy road. The road made a strong division between the plaza and the site.

I have proposed to re route the traffic that enters the area North of Union Square from the McGrath Highway. Primary ac-cess to the square from McGrath Highway will now come from Somerville Ave. The Site will now be located directly adjacent to the plaza, allow the Library to be part of the plaza.

The relocated road will service primary Public Transportation (ie. City Buses, As-sisted Transportation System, Trolley Sys-tems connecting the library with other public service buildings) as well as local access to residences and deliveries.

SITE ANALYSIS

Existing Footprint

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Redirecting Traffic

Somerville Ave.

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Washingston St.

Washingston St.

PLAZA


SITE ANALYSIS

Existing Condition leaves Library separated from the Plaza and gives limits visual con-nection to the commuters arriving from the new Green Line station.

The City of Somerville Plans to extend Washington Street, destroying the public plaza and giving precedence to the vehic-ular traffic.

My plan allows the existing Union Square Plaza to be extended into the entrance of the new library. By shifting the site towards the plaza, it allows the building to become a visual beacon from Prospect Street and from the plaza.

EXISTING CITY PLANS MY PROPOSAL

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Building Form - First IterationUnion Square is home to several old brick structures. Located on the site of the new library is an old brick garage. The building is not much to look at, but holds a strong presence in the area. It dates back to when the automobile fi rst started to take over the streets of Somerville.

The building holds an importance to a particular time in the area’s history. With push to use public transportation more for environmental reasons and Union Station’s soon to be new T stop, a new form of transportation will be introduced to Union Square leaving the automobile behind the the changing times.

By keeping the shell of the old brick garage to house the analog book shelves, symbolically the building will be containing the old resources within the old structure and housing the new resources of technology and electronics in a new lighter structure that would be located behind it.

By separating the analog books from the technology resources, visitors that come to the library to use the elec-tronic resources would not have the opportunity to discover a part of the library that other wise would not have gone to.

I wanted the space to have a more harmonious balance between the diff erent types of resources the library has to off er.

A better assessment of the users was needed, to un-derstand how they will be using them the library and its resources.

To gain more freedom for future design explorations I will be proceeding with the removal of the existing building, however once this decision was made I also made the decision to salvage the old bricks to be reused them for the site work and extending the existing brick plaza to meet the new building.

Perspective of proposal using the existing brick structure

Preliminary Floor Plans

Site Section

MASSING RESPONSE TO THE SITE

Observations


Following my first massing attempt, similar characteristics of the overall massing was maintained. In the first iteration I shifted the massing on the north end of the site towards the plaza. This was an attempt to connect the users of the library with the views and activities of the plaza.

Additionally I wanted the building to have a visual presence when approaching Union Square. The building needs to both fit in with its existing context, not to become too over whelm-ing in size or shape, but needs to also become an iconic bea-con for the neighborhood to take pride it and relate to.

By shifting the footprint I studied the different levels of in-teraction the users would have with the exterior of the build-ing, since the building is sited within an active public space. I wanted the community to be able to feel comfortable going into the library, since often libraries can have the connotation of being stuffy or directed only towards scholars.

I wanted to attract the everyday passer byers. I wanted the building to allow the user to feel as if they are using the library even if they haven’t made the whole attempt to enter into it.

MASSING RESPONSE TO SITE

Shifting the footprint with concerns to the visual approach

Sizing the building’s alcoves in relationship to scale

Studying the building shape in relationship to height and interaction with ground

Massing Studies

Developing relationships between the shifting massing

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Technology gives the power and ability of glo-balization. Vast amounts of information and global connections are available to the public with out the necessity to look any further than home computers or personal digital devices.What does this mean for libraries?Can the public still in enticed to visit a public li-brary when it is perceived that all the informa-tion is accessible from personal devices.

While digital communities are expanding rapidly with online blogs, personal profiles and endless resources connecting us all, it is our local com-munities that are slowly compromising. Union square has a strong existing community pres-ence that need to be built upon. A public library is the a strong tool that can be used to help sus-tain a community and local interaction.

The physical, tangible reality of the written word on paper is a luxury that the new generations are fearfully over looking. The act of finding a book within the large shelves of a library is like a treasure hunt. A small dated stamp on a card in the back of the book, once told the story of how often the book was taken home to a differ-ent person.

USER APPROACH

Technology Resources

Community Resources

Analog Resources

Spirit Collage Model. Representing that the multiple

library uses and resources and how it can change depending on your

perspective of it


USER GROUPSCategorizing potential users. These users types, of course, are not limited to the interaction level as-signed here, rather it simply begins to give me a starting place to better organize the social needs of a library.

The Group Users, would facilitate larger areas that allow for large group congregation but in a separated and some times enclosed area.

The Independent Users, would be in smaller scaled areas with spaces for isolation and concentration. It would be for people who come to study, research, relax or work on their own. These spaces do not need to be visual enclosed, in fact it evokes a type of social privacy, where one comes to be around others but left alone.

The Social Users, open programs that can be carried out in open social spaces.

Social / Networking Groups Families TeenagersStory Tellers, Poetry Readings

Senior Citizens Small Children

Quiet Readers Researchers / Students / Grads Business Leaders Philanthropists

People on the go Casual Wed SurfersSocial Readers / Book Clubs Business Connections

Job Seekers

Literary Seekers

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USER APPROACH

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Feeling of a LibraryThe Internet has transformed how we search for and gather information. Public libraries hold the challenge of how to rethink how people inter-act with public knowledge. Although information is now being obtained rapidly from electronic resources, I want this new library to maintain and evoke the feeling of wondering around the book stacks, finding a particu-lar book or returning to your table with an arm full of new possible reads.

The physical quality of the book reaches far beyond the mere presence of holding it, in a library the books act as the tapestry of the environment. The stacks and stacks of book shelves sit in front of you asking to be ex-plored. The physical amount of books in a library gives a sense of humili-ty as one seeks to obtain a small amount of vast knowledge surrounding them.

“Blessed Unrest” by Paul Hawken was assigned to us to watch, in it Paul Hawken recalls a memory from his youthful days of “crawling around in the stacks” at the library which his father worked, that he felt “you can find anything you want to find if you look long enough”. This descriptions of triggered old memories of my own, sitting between book shelves and finding such amazing discoveries between those narrow book isles.

Libraries should be about that feeling of possibilities that one gets when surrounded by books. The soul feeds from the presence of the surrounding books.

It is in between those stakes where the discovery takes place. Long narrow aisles lined with endless possibilities of undiscovered truths, fantasies and far away worlds. The feeling of being between the stack of books is a feel-ing found only in a library. The books are a tapestry of physical knowledge waiting to be pulled from the shelves.

It is the aesthetic of the large book shelves, of the physical book and its relationship each book has to being part of a large collection of books, that I want to capture within the architecture of the Union Square Library.

FORM AND STRATEGIES

The narrow isles of a library make up the 20th century’s conception of the typical typology of the interior of a library.This collage is about all the life and interactions or lack of interactions that occur in these spaces.

Searching, looking, staying.

Drawing inspiration from he physical form of the books


I wanted to use the physical structure of the books to inspire form

I wanted the building itself to carry the language of the re-petitive narrow book aisles. Each alcove lined with books behind a translucent glass facing the public street, allowing people who are passing by to be evoked into that feeling of being in the library.

The series of columns would act to mimic bookshelf ends and entice the users to make their way between them and look at the spaces beyond them.

FORM AND STRATEGIES

Building Form



LIBR - ATION

CONCEPT FORM AND STRATEGIES

Open Air Walk way

With the concept of capturing the physical aesthetic of books, I created the staggered book walkway as a passage way through the library.

Connecting the building together in the center, this open passage way would allow public transit passengers who are passing from the green line station to the newly centralize bus terminal at the east side of the site to pass through the library and to be enticed to en-gage with the information it contains.

The metaphoric idea behind it is that the people who are in the pas-sage way are the substance and knowledge of that stack of books. The areas hold places were the community can access information on digital kiosks. These digital boards give the community members places to comment on book suggestions, current events and local activities.

The passage way would remain open during off hours to continued use while transit system is still in operation. It also serves to give commuters a place to socialize.

Concept Sketch of the staggered book passage way

Concept Sketches



Concept Sketch of a ramp lacing between the large reading staircase Initial sketch of staircase idea and enclosure.

Reading Stairs

Public spaces have a natural beauty to them when inhabited by the public.

Large open public stair cases have been used in public areas not only as means of vertical travel, but also as a place of gathering and resting. The stairs can serve as a great space to observe what is going on below, either it be a speaker of performance or just the daily activity on the plaza.

I believe including this type of element will help to open the build-ing up to the activities around the area, visitors of the library can still feel a part of the area when interacting with the building.

Spanish Staircase, Europe.

Concept Sketches

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Study sketches with concept

Study sketch of concept

Facade Ideas

Along with the feeling of passing through countless book shelves, is the feeling of flipping through pages, and getting lost in a book.

When I pick up a book, sometime I feel like I am deep inside of it.

I wanted to physically recreate a feature on the building that evokes that feeling of entering into a good book.

I used the idea of page edges as something visitors could walk into, or even look though .

I found several precedent studies that seem to have a similar ele-ments that I was looking to include.

Location of these elements are determined later in the project.



Cultural Center, Team Minus. China.

Museum and Cultural Center, in Aomori, Japan. Molo Design.

Exterior concept sketch

Exterior concept collage.

LIBR - ATION

Library users know that depending on the amount of focus, determination to finish an assignment or the tun-nel vision of enjoyment, accomplishment or contentment, one can easily lose track of time.

Depending on the task at hand, time can take on many forms. The user can easily become a slave to the clock or simply wishfully ignore the presence of it.

A successful library must accommodate to all types of ellipses of physical time. Some users have just enough time to browse through some popular or current finds that are located close to the doors, while others have hours to spend meandering through the shelves and lounging away with a good read.

Time spend alone in a quiet room all by yourself, say at home in your bedroom, doesn’t always have the same power to allow time to pass as it does when among others that are also in the same time warp as you are.

Time at the Library

Time is often a strong presence, weighing on our shoulders while try quickly pass by.

Sometimes we allow ourselve those moments when time just flyes and simply doesn’t matter

Collage of the different types of time references different users may experience.

“There were many hours when I never quite knew how I’d gotten

there or why I stayed”

– Philip Roth

PROGRAMMING


Type A – “Touch and Go” activities. Quick information is readily accessible and on display. Standing stations with touch screen technology gives quick access to the library’s vast amount of resources. Main distribution librarian desk is located near this area. Users are able to quickly pick up pre-ordered books and materials.

Type B – Activated by the Type A search areas, these areas con-sist of diff erent visual aids throughout the space that entice the user to look further and enter deeper into the library. The col-umns, fl oors and soffi ts also act as screens for information and way fi nding directional to be projected onto them, customized to the individual user.

Type C –Spaces are meant for solitude. They consist of nooks and small private area where one goes to escape. High windows give light but don’t allow for visual distractions. Each space has a visual way to tell others that the space is occupied and the user is not to be disturbed.

Type D – These are areas of interaction are where users can leave messages, pointers, information, questions and adver-tisements for local events for other users to fi nd and explore. It is a place for casual meetings. The bus stop and café are lo-cated close by. The information in this area is dictated by the demand of the community. Users may access the central library database and request information or resources such as; books, electronic devices, software, music, movie, magazines, etc.

Type E – Entertainment and Duration. This area is located on the top fl oor. It is a series of areas where user plans on spending a good amount of time. Rooms vary in sizes and can be rent-ed out for specifi c amounts of time. Resources are available for presentations, movie screenings, study groups, discussion groups, book clubs…

Plan LayoutsThe programs have been tailored to accommodate various dif-ferent perspectives of time. The diff erent perspectives of time are based on the user’s goals, tasks, distractions and level of focus. These intended frames of time the user initially has can quickly change as the “elapse of time” eff ect is a common side eff ect of many library visitors.

Program Types

First Floor

Second Floor

PROGRAMMING

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PROGRAMMING

First Floor, Initial Planning

Front Elevation, Initial Sketch


Interaction & Noise

Secluded & Quiet

Casual Web Surfers- Low Light- Dense Seating- Electronics give off Heat

People on the Go- High Noise Level- Location Near Bus Station- Outdoor Covered Area- Close by Quick Pick Up/ Drop Off

Lounge Areas- Open Seating and Standing- Areas of limited time commitment- Brightly Lite with Daylight - Adjacent to Media Circulation (ie. news, magazines, community boards)

Story Tellers / Presentations - Lecture space- Large Screen and Stage- Large Group Seating Area

Open Conversation- Flexible Small and Large Groups- High Noise Level- Ability to enclose small areas for privacy

Study Groups - Enclosed Areas- Large Table and Chairs- Sound Isolated- Media viewing Areas

Casual SeatingFood / Drinks Allowed- Located by the Cafe’- Located by the Bus Station- High Noise Level- Near Current news, magazines

Reference Desk/ IT- Easily Accessible- Approachable- Centrally Located

Teaching & Assistance- Enclosed Areas - Group areas- Various Sized Rooms- Located by IT Staff Area

Quiet Reading- Public Seclusion - Personal Space- Short / Long Stay

Research- Longer Stay- Isolation and Focus- Near Stacks / Computers

Interactive Media- Quick Access- Interactive, small groups- Reference Area

Restrooms- Accessible- Large mass be used to separate noise from quiet areas

Browsing Stacks- Open areas for accessibility- Active areas, require quiet

PROGRAMMING

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PROGRAMMING

First Floor


OPEN TOBELOW OPEN TO

BELOW

PROGRAMMING

Second Floor

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Site Plan

FINAL PLANS


Overhead View

FINAL PLANS

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Level 1

1. ENTRANCE2. AREAS FOR QUIET STUDY / READING3. AREAS FOR QUIET COMPUTER RESEARCH4. OPEN GROUP AREA5. REST ROOMS6. CAFE7. GROUP AREAS, CAN BE ENCLOSED8. LARGE ENCLOSED MEETING ROOM 9. OPEN READING STAIRS / AUDITORIUM10. REFERENCE DESK11. RETURN / PICK UP / SERVICE WINDOW12. STACKS13. OPEN COMPUTERS14. OPEN PASSAGE WAY WITH SERVICE KIOSKS15. COMMUNITY MESSAGE BOARDS16. LOUNGE AREA17. BUS STOP COVERED SEATING18. ELEVATOR

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Connecting with the existing plaza the building open passage way that allows the plaza to extend through the building. The second floor entrance is access from the large exterior stair case that faces the plaza also acts as stadium seating to view all the actives and a shaded place to sit and read.

Separates louder group activities from visitors that are seek-ing independent areas to quietly focus, study and read.

The open passage way creates an area for visitors just passing through to still interact with the building and gather infor-mation from community boards and search and reserve liter-ature from easy access kiosks. Quick access service window located on the street side allows for quick pickup and drop off.

First Floor Plan

FINAL PLANS


DN

VIEWING ROOMS

OPEN TOBELOW OPEN TO

BELOW

1/8" = 1'-0"1 SECOND FLOOR

1. ENTRANCE2. BOOK / MEDIA CIRCULATION 3. TEACHING AREAS / CLASS ROOMS4. OPEN GROUP TABLES5. LOUNGE / READING NOOKS6. OUTDOOR READING TERRACE7. IT HELP DESK / REFERENCE8. RESTRICTED WALKWAY9. PRIVATE MEDIA VIEWING ROOMS

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Access to the second floor is made either from the large exterior stair case , or by using the elevator.

Small class room are located on the perimeter and can be rented or reserved for teaching or staff held tutorials.

IT service has their main help desk located here with open com-puters for assisted working sessions.

Across the restricted passage way is access to several small private viewing rooms that are separated by movable isolation walls. This allows the spaces to convert to various sizes to accom-modate different sized groups. The area allows users to watch educational videos, lectures, music performances, etc.

Second Floor Plan

FINAL PLANS

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Front Elevation

FINAL PLANS


Rear Elevation

FINAL PLANS

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FINAL PLANS


1/8" = 1'-0"1 Section 11

Detail in Plan

Detail in Section

Rendering of Area

FINAL PLANS

Section

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View from the Plaza

FINAL PLANS

Right Elevation


FINAL PLANS

Left Elevation

View of the transportation station

Documents

Libr - ation (library / transportation)