Design Studio || Spring 2020 || Second Year
A Miami University Blog
I am designing my library in brick traditional style with elements of glass paneling. I would like my library to accommodate all ages and serve many purposes, importantly a children’s learning center separated from adult study. I believe outdoor space is needed and to take advantage of using a roof top.
Bubble/Massing
Site
Plan
This library design will integrate into the clifton community by using local materials and key concept ideas from the clifton plaza design. The concept of the history of clifton that was transformed by the streetcar will also be referenced in my library design. I plan on using the abstracted map route on the east and/or west facade of the building. Creating a glass pattern that will be visually appealing, but also blend with the rest of the library design.
So for this project, I am inspired by a letter Z, and I want this building is full of lighting so there will be a lot of glass on this building. Also, I am really attracted by BEINECKE RARE BOOK LIBRARY, in the Beinecke library it has a really huge stack tower with all the collect also the interior garden is really impressing me. So my book stack will be a large book stack with all the books from the first floor to the third floor.
On each bubble diagram, I also show how the circulation works. The first floor for the bubble diagram it’s having the main entrance with the parking spot and the first floor is included with refreshment bar, auditorium open seats, bookshelves, public computer access, and staff office also the circulation desk. And the second floor is connected with the Clifton plaza so it has an individual small auditorium, and main reading room, meeting room. The third floor is all the maker space such as practice room, movement, fitness.
For my building material, I really attracted the translucent alabaster for the not glass part, and for the glass part, I want to use really large and clean glass.
From the Building form, the first floor with a rectangle glass is actually the entrance from the front parking spot. I did add a large glass on the top roof because I want using the natural light for the dancing room.
Building Perspective
For my approach to this design I wanted to implement multi level designs making certain spaces feel open and spacious such as the atrium and reading areas while also creating more intimate areas for meeting and study rooms. The circulation throughout the building will revolve around a U shape design thats lit up from a skylight.
Bubble Diagrams
Floor Plans
Massing
For the Clifton Library, I based a lot of my design off of my precedent library, the Carré d’ Art in France. This library was very connected with the other buildings around it and also focused on connecting the spaces inside the building. I wanted to focus on this idea of connection, so my has building as a glass mass that is in the same spot on every floor. This is where the book stacks and reading areas are. It is made of glass so that it can stay in connection with the other spaces around it.
My concept for Clifton Library revolves around a building as a connector of nature. I extracted the “L” shape from my primary plaza seating and continued these lines of extension to form my atrium and circulation path for my library. I saw both the plaza and library as central community pieces and wanted to integrate the two. My library entrances are marked with large outdoor spaces that reveal the shape of the internal circulation path. These natural forms join with the “L” formation through the facade that mirrors the slope of the site and structural elements.
When approaching this project, I began by considering how the design could connect Clifton Plaza with Howell Street. In order to create a fluid path, I decided on the diagonally split form. The trapezoid shape of the two components reference my Clifton Plaza design. I wanted the plaza to flow into the library with the continuation of green space on the second level. The incorporation of natural light and green balconies is something I have been focusing on. The individual skylight components came out of this desire for each room to be comfortable and desirable for the inhabitants. The most public program elements are placed on the outside of the building and I tried to delineate each element in the facade making them easier to identify from the outside.
My solution for Clifton Library draws upon several library precedents, my plaza design, and explores new realities for a library and community space. The form of my library has taken on the shape of books stacked upon one another, making reference to the importance of literature and its ability to unite humans into a community. The forms of the overlapping “books” will be made of repeating modules carefully layered upon each other. This form creates a variety of dynamic interior and exterior spaces within the building and mirrors the creation of unique experiences found in the squares of my plaza design. Drawing from the Joan Maragall library, my design becomes an extension of the plaza with a clear connection to the space. Elements for this library are also inspired by Book Mountain, which uses an interior core to house the major program elements, and includes circulation that revolves around the core and reading space that surround this core of spaces.
These plans represent the major spaces on each floor, including the core in which they are enclosed. They also show the floors below and opportunities for outdoor terraces.
I started my design process by thinking about how I can incorporate the Clifton Plaza I designed. I brought in aspects of the plaza like a large triangular atrium that is in the center of the space. I have organized the spaces that I feel best fit for my design and would be best for privacy or light purposes.
My approach to this design started with the idea of slope and light. For my precedent library, I studied the Delft University Library of Technology in the Netherlands. A key feature that I wanted to encapture from that library to mine was the slope. Another important factor in my concept is the enhancement of natural light. Since the site is facing South, I wanted to take advantage of the amount of natural sunlight coming in. I have developed two designs that best depict my concept.
