Final Proposal — The Library of Musical History

At the moment when the electronics revolution seems about to melt all that is solid — to eliminate all necessity for concentration and physical embodiment — it seems absurd to imagine the ultimate library” — Rem Koolhaas

Questioning the need for a library in an age where technology is overtaking physical institutions was the impetus for the design. This proposal shifts the focus of the library and directs it towards creating a public space in the much needed Bowery neighborhood. Extending the park that exists along Chrystie Ave. to the building itself, where people can enjoy the spiral that was left as void from the movement of rotating blocks, as a place to sit, walk and lounge while reading or socializing. When the library is viewed as a public space for tourists and New Yorkers, it attracts them even more. Maybe a person was not planning of going to the library but the fact that he or she came to experience the public space it gives greater opportunity for them to enter and use the library as an intellectual institution. The spiral creates a connection with the users. The field of vision is expanded to reach multiple floors. This instigates a sense of interaction, a sense of publicity in a building that is otherwise thought to be completely private.

The library is organized chronologically, where the ground floor showcases the entire history as an introduction to the journey that the user takes upwards. The history begins in the 1900’s and continues to the present. Subsequently there is a mixed floor at the top where people can gather and discuss different styles in a singular space given all they learned prior.

The floor plan is organized to accomodate a book stack space, a reading space and a listening space where people can gather and listen to the music that they are learning about on that specific floor. The top floor holds an auditorium, a concert venue and a restaurant.

The park has its own specific program. It holds a playground area, picnic area, yoga and exercise, etc. However, they can also serve as merely a place to sit and relax, and encourages people to bring their own instruments and play it on that space as sound projects through the void and fills it with music. There is also a public jam area that becomes a stage to perform and people passing by through the building can catch a glimpse of the show.

As one approaches the building it has 3 distinctive circulation opportunities. One can either circulate through as part of their commute and experience the interior void or one can choose to enter the library or continue up to the vertical park.

The building has two circulation ramps. One for the library and the other for the park. The user can choose either one and there are three intersection points where they can interchange their experience.

The ramps are a design on their own. They give the building an organic texture and a form that has dual purpose as a kind of reaction to the duality of the building itself. On one side is serves as a surface to stand on and circulate through the ramp, and on the other it carves a surface on which to sit or rest.

In this section one can appreciate the formal change in texture. The rigidity, and orthagonality of the library and the more organic, playful texture for the park. The void resembles the Grand Canyon and the organic texture gives the notion that the form was a reaction to the erosion of soil.

This diagram shows the procession as one approaches the building. It also shows the shift in texture that is unique to the park. As one walks towards it the form is very orthogonal with a slight wave-like skin that hints at the organic nature of the interior. The building lifts at the corner to reveal that interior texture. It is a facade on its own, a different face to the building that also has a different purpose.