MID REVIEW — ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY
The idea of the library came from the preliminary massing of the programs in a very general way. I knew I wanted the focus of the library to be on the central space that would consist of the wall of books that scale the height of the building. After trying to oriented it in several different ways, I chose to orient the mass of the central massing to be perpendicular to the rest of the forms in order for there to be a contrasting element in plan. Because the central area is most important to my concept all the other programs were oriented around it. The service floors are designed as rectangles that intersect the central space, whatever is inside the central space becomes part of the central circulation and study area.
When I started the precedent study I noticed that the Delft University Central Library had a similar idea of the central reading room. Although mostly closed off, the central reading space gets natural light from the open top of the cone. Natural light also comes in through the glass rim around the cone to the rest of the library.
Section 4 shows the circulation outside of the central space. There is an elevator that connects the central space to corridors that lead to the main stairs and the service spaces. There is another entry way in the back that leads to a “retail space” or just an atrium. Materials wise, the central space is made of darker glass that keeps the harmful sunlight out of the central space and keep people from looking into the space from the outside.
