SERENDIPITOR'S JOURNEY

Brooklyn, New York // Columbia University, GSAPP // Year 1, Semester 2 // 2016 // Instructor: Douglas Gauthier

“A rhizome has no beginning or end; it is always in the middle, between things, interbeing, intermezzo. Between things does not designate a localizable relation going from one thing to the other and back again, but a perpendicular direction, a transversal movement that sweeps one and the other away, a stream without beginning or end that undermines its banks and picks up speed in the middle.” 

- Gilles Deleuze, A Thousand Plateaus

The contemporary notion of a library is evolving - adapting to the transient population of the 21st Century. Those who do seek out libraries, seek knowledge, solitude or refuge within an ever-busy schedule. As such, this project studies the possible relationship between transit systems and the library typology within the center of Downtown Brooklyn, New York. The intervention seeks to plug into the underground subway system of the area, effectively serving the passengers within the network as they go through their daily commute, whilst drawing people from above through entrances, or "attractor spaces", naturally formed by expanding, spiraling tunnels expanding and strategically bleeding outwards through the neighborhood. 

The rhizome-inspired intervention seeks to rise and fall through the transit system of Downtown Brooklyn. Its elevational movement is contextually derived from building heights above, around the 5 disconnected subway stations, through a series of "loft" studies to create a form that laces through the neighborhood. The library integrated within the network itself,  coherently fragmented by the Dewey Decimal System, responding to the discrete programs of the blocks above. The scheme acts as a shelter and facilitator for the daily commuters of the site, whilst also providing necessary facilities of a traditional library, such as a central collection room and interspersed reading rooms, supplemented with more contemporary setups such as maker-spaces and cafes, all of which are scattered throughout the network. 

Essentially, the network seeks to bring the library into the daily lives of the community, rather than provide a nodal facility for the community to find during their hustling lifestyles, encouraging a serendipitous finding of knowledge and interaction. By playing on and integrating within the current system whilst attempting to not manipulate the momentum of the site, the project will become a natural addition to people’s lives rather than a new destination. 

PRECEDENT STUDIES

The project began as a simple precedent study of libraries, both historic and contemporary. With a primary focus on the Tama Art Library, aspects such as design intent and response to site conditions were studied extensively, researching through numerous forms of media. These studies evolved into a series of spatial explorations, where aspects of one library were digitally 'lofted' with another to create interesting, new rooms, forms and geometry. These digital models were then realized, with a particular emphasis on the fabrication process; each model was created with a different material(s) and/or combinations, and with a variety of generative processes. These various techniques included Laser Cutting, 3D Printing, CNC milling and casting, with materials ranging from Chipboard, Acrylic, 3D Printing, Foam and Rockite. These models became crucial in concept generation for the library project, some in more direct ways, and others figuratively. 

The buildings studied in this series include: Toyo Ito's Tama Art University Library, Michelangelo's Laurentian Library, Alvar Aalto's Seinajoki City Library and Le Corbusier's Mundaneum illustrations.