Urban Building_A Warehouse of Knowledge
Atrium - Extroverted Space for Connecting East to West
A modern day library as a monument to bring together Merchant City.
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Urban Building Thesis:
"The library assumes the best of people. The services it provides are founded on the assumption that: if given a chance, people will improve themselves.” (Taylor, “BBC Radio 4 – Thinking Allowed, Palaces for the People.”)
Currently, there is a great disparity of civic buildings in Merchant City. Subsequently this devolves into a lack of community in a very socially diverse district. The site for “A Warehouse of Knowledge” sits on the boundary between the upper class and lower class areas of the district, so the building will act as an item of social infrastructure to increase the likelihood of social connections across the district.
With a combination of biophilic design and circulation which creates social connections, this building will use introverted and extroverted spaces to modernise the outdated library into a piece of contemporary social infrastructure for the people of Merchant City.
“A Warehouse of Knowledge” will act as a monument which builds on Merchant City’s identity.
“Biophilic design fosters feelings of membership in a community that includes both people and the non-human environment.” (Kellert, Nature by Design : The Practice of Biophilic Design, 20.)