time, space + being

For my three concepts I used an idea from the article Place, Time and Being in Japanese Architecture by Kevin Nute;

“Built forms which reveal a particular place, time or pattern of being...enabl[e] us to orientate ourselves and feel at home in the world: helping to make us more alive to the moment and passing the time; and affirming the inherent uniqueness of all material being, including our own.”

I examined place, time and being each separately in my study models trying to find the potential that they each had as separate ideas. I tried to look at both the positive and negative sides of each idea and then followed the side that I felt applied most to the project.

For my ‘place’ model I really wanted to emphasis the separation that the library could have from the city that surrounds it. I wanted the entrance to be abrupt and then open up in to a large communal space with the utilitarian spaces radiation off of that. Similar to how you enter a cave through a tunnel, immediately you feel the protection and difference from the outside world. Specifically in this model I paid attention to the programmed spaces.

My ‘time’ model tried to take the Japanese cultural idea of renewal. I wanted the design to be able to adapt and change if/when necessary. I divided the site space into twelve sections, each representing a month of the year and assigning each a specific month. Then placed moving bookshelves or walls to divide spaces. The moving book shelves would allow the spaces inside the library to change and sever multiple purposes depending on the needs of its users.

For the ‘being’ model I wanted to look at how technology could bring people together instead of separating them into their own separate worlds. Instead of making individual boxes to model the spaces I created one space with sections defined that serve multiple functions.