Week 12 Design Process

This week I have continued working on the idea I had last week of a circular building that the user spirals around, moving through different experiences. Last week I mainly had ideas for the section of the library where books are stored, and thought that the contemplation, study and group sharing spaces could be located around the edges of the central library space. I discussed this with Jesse, and while he liked that idea, he suggested it might be interesting to look at the idea of moving from the darkness underwater up into the light. This idea would fit much more with my diagram of the spaces of human occupation and the space of the river's ecology. The area where the books are kept and the spiral of experiences with the water occurs is located below the river, and the areas where the entrance, administration and storage, as well as the three study zones are is above the water level.

Diagram of the library moving from dark to light

Section of the library (the bottom half is not shaded as it would be lit artificially, and the lighting has not been decided on yet)

I have positioned the three study spaces at the very top of the building to take advantage of the light. The individual study space is reached first, and the desks face inwards towards the centre of the building. In this level, the central hole through the building is not visible, as there is a full length wall. A staircase leads up to the group study level, where there is light coming in from all sides as in the level below, but the central space is open, and the desks are placed around the edge. The user then progresses up another staircase to the top level of contemplation, which is open and light, and is just made for people to walk around and view the river below, looking at it with the new perspective that the knowledge of the books has given them.

I also started working on some draft floor plans.

Draft floor plans