Collected Fictions //
A Mess of Libraries edited by RubĂŠn A. Alcolea
Collected Fictions by Kayra Cengiz / Lauren Charpentier / Tianqi Cui / Carla De Haro / Po-Yen Hsieh / Iris Hong / Zhengxi Keren Hou / Geena Kribs / Kwesi Kwapong / Claudia Lu / Meghan Mahoney / Elisa Medina-Jaudes / Dominika Michalska / Thomas Musca / Brandon Nolasco / Jeannette Pang / Michael Paraszczak / Binhan Tang
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
The Collected Fictions Project explores the blurry boundaries of our memory while thinking about architecture masterpieces. The role of photography in massively disseminating those works is clear, as it is also in trying to synthesize them with only a few and universally accepted shots. But photography is not only a tool to aseptically catalog and document the buildings, as it is also the perfect media to strength its virtues by a direct and sharp focus on its real values and why not, also fictional possibilities. Reality and fiction then merge and redefine what is the real essence of those buildings which have built the history of modern architecture. This publication is an academic production that compiles some of the research work for the elective arch 3308/6308 ‘Collected Fictions’, instructed by Rubén Alcolea at AAP Cornell University during the Fall Semester 2018, and completes the research initiated with the book “Collected Fictions: Some Masterpieces” (2017).
Collected Fictions. A Mess of Libraries / edited by Rubén A. Alcolea 232 p. / 9x6 in / 15.24x22.86 cm / 2018 1. Architecture. 2. Photography. 3. Architectural Photography I. Alcolea, Rubén A., 1975Printed and bound in Ithaca, NY, US by Cornell Print Services © The authors and Editor © 2018 AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning. Cornell University All right reseved. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution and for a Non-Commercial Use. All material is compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but published without responsability for errors or omissions. The authors have included the sources and tried to contact copyright holders, but this was not possibe in all circumstances. No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any form without written permission from the editor. The opinions and statements of facts expressed in this volume are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent those of the editor.
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
Collected Fictions //
A Mess of Libraries The Collected Fictions Project by Rubén A. Alcolea Berlin State Library by Hans Scharoun National Library in Buenos Aires by Clorindo Testa Geisel Library by William Pereira Khalifeyah Library by Bjarne Mastenbroek Les Aigües Library by Clotet & Paricio Jacob and Wilheim Grimm Library by Max Dudler National Library of France by Dominique Perrault Sainte Geneviève by Henri Labrouste Viano do Castelo Municial Library by Álvaro Siza Viipuri Library by Alvar Aalto Brooklyn Library by Almirall, Githens & Keally Seattle Central Library by Rem Koolhaas Tama Art University Library by Toyo Ito Stuttgart City Library by Eun Yong Yi José Vasconcelos Library by Kalach & Palomar M.L.K. Jr. Memorial Libray by Mies van der Rohe J.M. Olin Library by Warner, Burns, Toan & Lunde Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito
The Collected Fictions Project Rubén A. Alcolea
4
The celebrated Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa addressed the audience in Melbourne in September 1993 about the importance and meaning of ‘fiction’. In his lecture, presented as Fiction: The Power of Lies, the writer reflected upon something that was very fundamental to him: the freedom of the imagination. He tried to define what a fiction was in terms of literature. In fact, he stated, “novels do lie -they cannot help doing so-, but that is simply one part of the story. The other is that, through the lying, they reveal a curious truth, which can purely be expressed in a veiled and concealed fashion, masquerading as what it is not.”1 This creation of tales or imaginary stories, which sometimes were trusted as real, has been widely explored in written literature. The text requires the reader to recreate what it depicts, abstracting but also curating the story into something absolutely personal and intimate. It is in this translation from the text to our subconscious when the magic really happens, and the fiction starts to appear. The necessity of interpretation forces the writer to leave its vision somehow open and undefined, engaging an act of trust in the reader, and allowing multiple and simultaneous readings or interpretations. In a similar way, visual arts engage the viewer to be part of the universe of the artist. The work of art
1. Vargas Llosa, Mario, Fiction: The Power of Lies, ed. by Roy C. Boland (La Trobe University / 1993 Meredith Memorial Lecture, 1993), p. 1.
Collected Fictions
presents itself straighter, and both its optical direct perception and this lack of the ambiguities given by the text, allow a less mediated conversation between the spectator and the artist. Nonetheless, no art as photography has provided such a deep exploration of the thresholds between reality and fiction. The invention of photography opened the door to the creation of curated realities, which had the ability to be presented as unfiltered translations of our real environment. And actually, since its origins, photographers have been trying to face the narrative of images to experiment and play with that boundary, guiding the viewer to believe that conceptual trap which enacts photography as a substitute for reality. The photographer and philosopher Jean Baudrillard expressed clearly this idea in his critical essay The Evil Demon of Images (1984). “We have arrived at a paradox regarding the image, our images, those which unfurl upon and invade our daily life-images whose proliferation, it should be noted, is potentially infinite, whereas the extension of meaning is always limited precisely by its end, by its finality; from the fact that images ultimately have no finality and proceed by total contiguity, infinitely multiplying themselves according to an irresistible epidemic process which no one today can control, our world has become truly infinite, or rather exponential by means of images... We have thus come to the paradox that these images describe the equal impossibility of the real and of the imaginary.”2 This overlapping of the real and the imaginary takes place not only while we experience the photographs. Their effects endure over time, even longer than the control we have over our awareness. Partly because our memories are mostly built upon images, the paradox of that overlapping usually substitutes ‘what it is’ with ‘what we see’, and the curation of the memories of our past experiences starts building an innermost catalog of imagined images focused in our personal interests. The movie Memento (2000) by Christopher Nolan examines the extreme
5
2. Baudrillard, Jean, The evil demon of images (Sydney: The Power Institute of Fine Arts / 1984 Mari Kuttna Memorial Lecture, 1985), p. 27.
assumption of a sort of memory made of just a handful of images.3 The continuous amnesia of the main character strengths him to use photographs to record his actions, forcing him to trust the believe and trust the images, even if some of them were fabricated and distorted to try to give meaning to his actions. This new and self-made reality gradually substitutes his real past with a curated and fictitious conscience.
6
The photographic dissemination of architecture, and particularly when addressing well known buildings or key masterpieces, evolves into a stand-alone category which necessarily alters, in a minor or major extent, the personal and non-fictional perception of the space on experiencing the real space or building. It is in that precise moment when the role played by photography becomes crucial in shaping our visual memory. Photographs become not just plain descriptions aimed to document or show space configurations o material qualities. Photography may rather be considered an effective and powerful weapon which directly hits our subconscious with bursts of images. They are immediately considered as harmless, but define our perception and in many occasions the only approach to the built work. It is as well the perfect media to strength the buildings’ virtues by a direct and sharp focus on some real characteristics and why not, to point also at its many fictional possibilities. Photography opens the door to a new and spurious world, a place where voluntarily and slightly distorted buildings play a somewhat similar but radically different role. The definition of what a fiction has been certainly easily applied to literature, where that term is frequently used. And although it is also commonly addressed by other arts, nonetheless, rare is the occasion when we hear about a fiction in close relation to built architecture. It may be the intrinsically real nature of buildings what makes the idea of pointing at their fictional qualities to sound unnatural.
3. Memento (2000), directed by Christopher Nolan, 1h 53m, starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano. Screenplay “Memento Mori� by Jonathan Nolan.
Collected Fictions
The Collected Fictions Project explores precisely the blurry boundaries of our memory in understanding and approaching to architecture masterpieces through some of its very well known shots. Reality and fiction merge and redefine what is the real essence of those canonical buildings which define the history of our modern architecture. Some photographs, especially those of major masterpieces, are found in every history or theory book, and it takes us just a quick glance to give the building for granted, amplifying our trust on what we consider well established icons. In many occasions, the distortions presented here are evident and the trick precisely points to a possibility of a building which shouldn’t have ever existed. In others, the subtlety of the transformation enables us to react with the doubt and deeply questioning our idiosyncratic records. In any case, all of them express its own truth and, far from trying to lie, prove the validity of photography to define a parallel, expanded and fabricated reality, free from the restraints of our material being.
7
This book compiles some of the Fictions produced through the elective arch 3308/3608 Architecture and Photography, instructed during the Fall Semester 2018 in AAP Cornell University, and are part of an ongoing investigation into the power of fictional photography in a way to substitute our visual memories. The exercise started dealing with major masterpieces and was compiled in a previous volume, Collected Fictions: Some Masterpieces (2017).4 In that occasion, the trick was somehow more evident but, at the same time, more powerful. Now, this volume includes a bunch of buildings, libraries, which share a common program, and the valuable privilege to hold the books which embrace the accumulation of human knowledge and the expansion of our imagination beyond its real nature. December 2018 The Collected Fictions Project
4. Alcolea, RubĂŠn A. (Ed), Collected Fictions: Some Masterpieces (Ithaca, NY: AAP Cornell University, 2017).
As a goal, Architecture must propose the creation of new relationships between man, space and technique. Hans Scharoun
Berlin State Library by Hans Scharoun Berlin, Germany 1967-1978
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
10
Hans Scharoun, 1950. Photo by Fritz Eschen
Site Plan
Berlin State Library Collected Fictions
by Hans Scharoun Berlin, Germany 1967-1978
11
During World War II, the Staatsbibliothek moved to Berlin to prevent the bombing, and by chance ended up in one of the Western occupation zones after the war. The other part, about half of all books, ended up in the Soviet zone and was relocated in the original building of the Avenue Unter den Linden, east of the city. Since the unification of Germany, the two sites were joined to form a new Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. The new Library was built to provide a new home for the two sectors. 1 The design was the result of a limited competition amongst eleven architects: Scharoun (first prize), Gutbrod (second prize), Bornemann (commendation), Spengelin (commendation), Kramer/Seidel/ Hausmann (special mention), Ruegenberg, Krahn, Seitz/ Otto, Deilmann, Pfau and Ferdinand Kramer. The jury comprised P. Baumgarten, W. Duttmann, W. Hebebrand, B. Hermkes, R.Hillebrecht, H. Linde, C. Mertz, J. Rossig, K. Sage and H. Schwippert. 2
1. “Berlin State Library Data, Photos & Plans.” WikiArquitectura. Accessed October 29, 2018. https:// en.wikiarquitectura.com/ building/berlin-statelibrary/. 2. Bürkle, J. Christoph, Hans Scharoun, (Zürich: Artemis, 1993), 136-137.
12
Collected Fictions
13
Berlin State Library by Hans Scharoun
14
Collected Fictions
15
Berlin State Library by Hans Scharoun
16
Collected Fictions
17
Scharoun proposed a grouping of individual buildings in the form of an “urban landscape”. The bulky mass of the State Library was to be shielded against the planned expressway in the west by the support spaces, store rooms and closed stacks. The reading rooms and other annexes were to step down towards the open ground of the Forum. The reading rooms, inheriting Scharoun’s organic style, form a continuous, endlessly expanding open space, attaching to a functional spine in the back. The plan also reiterates the idea of a defined square in front of the Matthai Kirche -a ‘piazza’, in Scharoun’s words -first formulated in the Philharmonie design.3 In the interior, Scharoun created a quite unique spatial landscape that relates to the people who use the Library while meeting all functional requirements. Functional units, such as the various reading rooms, catalogue area and issue desk, are inserted into an organic continuous space, covered by a sun-screened ceiling which Scharoun called the “skyscape”. 3 Berlin State Library by Hans Scharoun
3. Bürkle, J. Christoph, 136-137.
18
Collected Fictions
19
Left: Shots extracted from film Wings of Desire (1987) Berlin State Library by Hans Scharoun
Original drawings (left) and proposed fiction
20
Photographs by Liselotte and Armin Orgel-Kรถhne
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Zhengxi (Keren) Hou
Berlin State Library is a project that embodies Scharoun’s signature organic language familiar to his later works, exemplified by Berlin Philharmonic. This fiction exploits the aggregatable and expandable nature of this design style. As Scharoun moved to the organic approach, apposing to the international style exhibited widely at the time, he created spaces fully embracing freedom and fluidity. In a series of manipulations, the fiction exaggerates the span of the reading room, the main open space in the building, to explore how Scharoun’s spaces, when physical limitation has been removed, possess the capability of infinite self-expansion and continuity.
21 Wings of Desire (1987) directed by Wim Wenders (left) and fiction (right)
Photograph by Burçin Yildirim
Photograph by Liselotte and Armin Orgel-Köhne Berlin State Library by Hans Scharoun
Architecture always expresses the spirit of its time. It can not be said that what the architecture of the renaissance is better than now. Each reflects humanity at the time. Clorindo Testa
National Library in Buenos Aires
by Clorindo Testa Buenos Aires, Argentina 1972-1992
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
24
Clorindo Testa in Argentina, 1995. Photo by Luis Benshimol
Site Plan
National Library in Buenos Aires Collected Fictions
by Clorindo Testa Buenos Aires, Argentina 1972-1992
25
Winner of the National Competition for Preliminary Drafts in 1961, the construction of Argentina’s national library started in 1972. Although it could not be finished until 1992, the monumental silhouette of the unfinished building defined the city’s shape for decades. The National Library is located in a park of about two hectares, which was designed by landscape gardener Carlos Thays for the Quinta Unzué (Residence of the family Unzué), which became later the presidential residence where Eva Perón died in 1952. Respecting the precondition to leave as much free land as possible, and to reduce to a minimum the cut down of old trees, the architects decided to liberate the main floor, to elevate the reading rooms, and to place the book deposit in two basements. The building corresponds to the architectural style denominated Brutalism, with the main structure resolved in concrete. The resulting monumental volume is visible from different perspectives from the surrounding avenues and parks.
“National Library.” National Library. Art Destination Buenos Aires. Accessed November 02, 2018. https://universes. art/en/art-destinations/ argentina/buenos-aires/ more-places/bibliotecanacional/.
26
Collected Fictions
27
National Library in Buenos Aires by Clorindo Testa
28
Collected Fictions
29
National Library in Buenos Aires by Clorindo Testa
30
In this page: original building (left) and proposed fiction (right)
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Thomas Musca
The fiction entertains three different alternative realities for Corindo Testa’s National Library of Argentina. It works with the three most distinct elements of his brutalist structure: the supporting columns, the height of the main library, and the width of the cantilevering study spaces. The first intervention is a simple height doubling for the columns that hold up the upper portion of the building. Testa designed the library to hover over a park in the midst of Buenos Aires. The parks trees and foilage were meant to serve as a part of the visual canopy that the library created in the square. By raising the height of the building in this manner, it opens up the lower courtyard to more light, makes the structure more prominent, and puts the building well above the trees, asserting its hierarchy. The second modification changes the hight of the perched upper section of the building. By tripling its window count in the vertical direction it can extend the space to match the skewed proportions of the elongated columns. The new multistory space has an even larger visual presence over the city centre. Finally, there is an interior extension. The cantilevered extrusions facing outwards on all four sides of the structure have been made roughly six times wider than their current size. This results in both more light and circulation space in these side atriums, and also opens up the rear glass facade of the building to even more light.
National Library in Buenos Aires by Clorindo Testa
31
Architecture of the future will seek to prevail, hover, and disrupt the skyline. William Pereira
Geisel Library by William Pereira San Diego, California USA 1970
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
34
Site Plan
William Pereira, 1962. Photo by John Loengar
Geisel Library Collected Fictions
by William Pereira San Diego, California, USA 1970
The alien form of the Geisel Library at the University of California, San Diego seems befitting of a backdrop from a science fiction movie. The building occupies a fascinating direction in futurism that its architect, William Pereira, intrepidly pursued throughout his career. With its hovering glassy enclosures, the library beautifully occupies an ambiguous state of levitation, as if the upper stories can be lifted up at any moment. This condition gives the library an otherworldly appearance and provides a startling statement about the generative and imaginative power of the architect. The tapered cantilevers above the plaza are supported by a simple but ingenious structural system consisting of sixteen concrete piers that rise out of the forum level. They meet the bottom edge of the first floor plate.1
35
1. Langdon, David. “AD Classics: Geisel Library / William L. Pereira & Associates.� ArchDaily. November 11, 2014. Accessed October 27, 2018. https://www. archdaily.com/566563/ ad-classics-geisel-librarywilliam-l-pereira-andassociates.
36
Collected Fictions
37
Geisel Library by William Pereira
As an icon of futurism, the Geisel Library is featured prominently on university recruiting materials, and was even briefly incorporated into the university’s logo. For the vast majority of the UCSD community, the library is a cherished icon and the symbol of the campus.
38
Collected Fictions
39
Geisel Library by William Pereira
40
Collected Fictions
41
Early Sketch by William Pereira
Geisel Library by William Pereira
Exterior, Photo by Flickr user domc (left) and fiction (right)
Original Section (left) and fiction (right)
Photo by Flickr user kevinsm329 (left) and fiction (right)
42
Original 4th Floor Plan (left) and fiction (right)
Photo by Flickr user kevinsm329 (left) and fiction (right)
Photo by Flickr user 3n (left) and fiction (right)
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Geena Kribs
This fiction aims to distort Pereira’s architectural language and consequently the tension created between strong concrete piers and hovering glassy enclosures. Working with topic of structure, this fiction explores how to transform the building to a state of weightlessness. In the original images, the piers have a severe presence. They branch outward at 45-degree angles and extend past the full width of the sixth floor and bridge the enclosed spaces with a continuous, diagonal motion. With the alterations, the focus is drawn to the glass volumes and the floor plates that act as pedestals. The elimination of the massive structure begins to breakdown the library’s association with brutalism and reveals a modern construction of glass. The fiction reveals an alternative existence for Geisel Library- a reality that was depicted in its initial sketches, but never fully realized.
Geisel Library by William Pereira
43
Our practice is characterized by a continous exploration into the intimate and reciprocal relationship between architecture and site. Our projects are conceived as landscapesthe most essential and generous element. Bjarne Mastenbroek
The Khalifeyah Library by Bjarne Mastenbroek Muharraq, Bahrain 2016
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
46
Bjarne Mastenbroek founded SeARCH in 2002.
Site Plan
The Khalifeyah Library Collected Fictions
by Bjarne Mastenbroek Muharraq, Bahrain 2016
47
The Khalifeyah Library is one of the first public libraries of Bahrain. Located at the heart of Muharraq, the cultural and public program is aimed at the youth living in the area. It includes a reading room, a research centre, an internet lab, and office spaces that are all open to the public. Muharraqq has been suffering from a redevelopment since the 1980s. This has reshaped the urban skyline of the site and destroyed its original scale. Mastenbroek’s project aims to strengthen the continous revitalization of the area by designing a library that subtly embeds itself into the site, but simultanously has a strong architectural presence that allows it to become a focal point of the neighborhood. As seen in the site plan, the lower floor’s boundary is shaped by the diagonal line of the adjacent building’s footprint. The top two cantilevering floors take up the original footprint of the library. This way, the public space is kept intact and a covered entrance is created for the library.1
1. “Khalifeyah Library / SeARCH.” ArchDaily. April 30, 2018. Accessed October 28, 2018. https://www.archdaily. com/893450/khalifeyahlibrary-search.
48
Collected Fictions
49
The Khalifeyah Library by Bjarne Mastenbroek
50
Collected Fictions
One of the main design problems for the library was regulating the indoor climate and minimizing direct sunlight coming into the building. The design of the facade is derived from overlaying the shadows of the cantilevering volumes to create an interesting pattern. A diagonal grid of louvres is projected onto the facade, and the high density of the pattern is used to minimize the amount of direct sunlight penetrating the building and maintain the indoor climate at a suitable temperature. The design of the louvres also creates an abstract sculptural facade that can change its appearance depending on the viewing angle and the amount of sunlight hitting the building. When looked from afar, the design seems to be closed, but when looked from up close, the louvres open up to the public.
The Khalifeyah Library by Bjarne Mastenbroek
51
52
Collected Fictions
53
The Khalifeyah Library by Bjarne Mastenbroek
54
Original Photos by Iwan Baan, 2016 (left) and fiction (right).
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Carla De Haro.
The fiction aims to alter the pattern of the facade in order to change the overall aesthetic of the building and to study what implications this may have for the interior lighting and temperature qualities of the space. In the original buiding, the density of the diagonal grid of louvres is varied following the shading patterns created by the cantilering volumes. This allows for a structural logic that regulates the incoming light into the library. In the fiction, the density of the grid is maximized so as to mostly obstruct the direct sunlight penetrating the building, and creating a fully abstract volume definition. By filling in all of the voids on the grid left by the original building, the fiction becomes closed and probably cooler since there is less direct sunlight coming in.
55
Original Drawings, Drawings by SeARCH, 2016 (left) and fiction (right).
The Khalifeyah Library by Bjarne Mastenbroek
An architect who gives complete comfort to his clients is like a doctor who forgets that his priority is to cure. LluĂs Clotet
Les AigĂźes Library by LluĂs Clotet and Ignacio Paricio Barcelona, Spain 1993-1999
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
58
Lluís Clotet and Ignacio Paricio. Photo by David Alquilar Juárez
Site Plan
Les Aigües Library Collected Fictions
by Lluís Clotet and Ignacio Paricio Barcelona, Spain 1993-1999
59
The construction of Dipòsit de les Aigues dates back to 1874, built by Josep Fontserè, but it was not until 1880 when it was first used as a reservoir of water, with the purpose of regulating the flow of the waterfall in the park of Ciutadella as well as watering their gardens.1 It was constructed following a classical Roman prototype, formed by 1-meter thick, 14-meters high brick walls, intersecting with vaults supporting the large tank on top.2 After one hundred years of different uses - old people’s home, storage for the fire brigade, car park for the local police department, archive for the Court of Justice - it became property of the Pompeu Fabra University in 1992. The rehabilitation of the Water Tank started in 1993 by architects Lluís Clotet and Ignacio Paricio.3 Although the conversion started in 1993, it did not start to work as a General University Library until 1999.4
1. ”Les Aigues Library, a Respectful Renovation of a Former Urban Water Deposit in Barcelona.” BMIAA. March 21, 2015. Accessed October 29, 2018. http://www.bmiaa. com/les-aigues-librarya-respectful-renovationof-a-former-urban-waterdeposit-in-barcelona. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid. 4. Ibid.
60
Collected Fictions
61
The architects opted for the building’s perfect preservation. A first phase consisted of creating a floor, definining a repetitious layout of chairs, tables, shelving for the books, and implement a system of lighting to complement the natural light entering through the somewhat limited openings in the elevations.5 The repetition of structure enabled the architects to create a continuous extension of space, formed of independent concrete slabs, slightly offset from the thick pilasters. From anywhere in the building, the reader can observe the maze of space, overlooking rows of books as far as the eye can see.6 The books have filled the structure of the cisterns. Henceforth, the beds of laid bricks commune with the layers of stored books. They occupy the space, a little as if laid down by natural forces, as if they had been there forever.7 Les Aigües Library by Clotet & Paricio
5. “Biblioteca Dell’Universita Pompeu Fabra a Barcellona, Spagna.” L’Industria Delle Construzioni, no. 366 (July 1, 2002): 84-91. 6. Ibid. 7. Ibid.
62
Collected Fictions
63
Les AigĂźes Library by Clotet & Paricio
64
Collected Fictions
65
Les AigĂźes Library by Clotet & Paricio
Site Plan (left) and fiction (right)
66
Interior, Photos by Simon García, 2012 (left) and fiction (right)
Exterior, Photo by José Hevia, 2008 (left) and fiction (right)
Exterior (left) and fiction (right)
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Michael Paraszczak
This fiction strives to revive what once was- a building with an absense of interior heirarchy and organization. As originally built, the repeating arches and bays created a labrynth of elements and space which had a sense of indefinite continuation into space. With the insertion of the library by Clotet + Paricio, the building’s spaces were subdivided, programmed, and redefined through spatial and programmatic heirarchy. This fiction still allows the building to exist as a library, however without the order and organization. Through plan and section, the structural bays that originally varied with different circulation patterns and program were replaced by a single repeating bay. The number of bays was extended to replace the tunnel connection to the lobby, erasing any idea of entrance or exit. In the interior photos, the bays were multiplied indefinitely to the vanishing points down any corridors, allowing the library’s spaces to appear the same and never-ending. On the exterior, the towers definining the ends of the building were eliminated and the facade extended to the edges of the frame. In effect, the library becomes a labrynth once again. One cannot determine where the images are taken inside the building. The library in turn evokes paradoxical emotions; the calmness, peacefulness and serenity of a visually endless library tansforms into fear and frustration of being lost in space and time.
Plan and Section (left) and fiction (right)
Les AigĂźes Library by Clotet & Paricio
67
Architecture subsists on light and shade, depth, edges and reliefs without a clear expression of these elements, conceptual architecture is impossible. Max Dudler
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Library by Max Dudler Berlin, Germany 2009
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
70
Max Dudler, Photo by Benedikt Kraft
Site Plan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Library Collected Fictions
by Max Dudler Berlin, Germany 2009
71
In terms of urban planning, Berlin is an incredibly flat and horizontal city, whose buildings are as a rule no more than 22 meters tall – with the exception of public buildings. The building is designed to cross the lines of the upper city limits and aims to mark the significance of the library as a public place of collected knowledge and as an urban architectural emblem of the book. Towering 53 meters high, this part of the building thrusts itself into the silhouette of the cultural landscape created by the nearby museum island. The great reading room was arranged in 7 levels which gives it an height of 27 meters. Through its manytiered, almost scenic design, the space effects a sense of the outdoors, which is further emphasized by the large plates of glass used in the “sky” glazing. An unobstructed view of the clouds, regargless of the height of ths space nearly gives one the feeling of reading under the open sky.
1. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Centre / Max Dudler” 27 May 2013. ArchDaily. Accessed 26 Oct 2018.
72
Collected Fictions
73
Jacob and Wilheim Grimm Library by Max Dudler
74
Collected Fictions
75
Despite the great height of the building and the density of its interior furnishings, the library possesses a surprising porousness and openness. The source of this lies in the consistency of heights and widths throughout the building, born out in both the architecture and the furnishings. From almost any point within the building, patrons can see out of, or rather through, the building. To accommodate the desire for simple orientation, the interior of the building was organized vertically and symmetrically around a central axis. Š MAX DUDLER 2017
Jacob and Wilheim Grimm Library by Max Dudler
76
Collected Fictions
77
Jacob and Wilheim Grimm Library by Max Dudler
All original photos: Š Stephan Mßller
Interior, original (up), and fiction (down)
Model, original (up), and fiction (down)
78
Original Sections (left) and fiction (right)
Original (up) and fiction (down)
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Kayra Cengiz
This fiction aims to accentuate Max Dudler’s intention to create a design that surpasses the upper city limits in order to emphasize the importance of a library. Despite the fact that the building was designed to go above the city limits, the actual reading of the space is very horizontal. Therefore, the manipulation of the building intends to enhance its verticallity in the landscape. The fiction showcases a reality that gives the building a larger mass and presence within the fabric of its neighborhood. The latter is designed to be very flat, so much so that even small variations in building heights can cause dramatic differences in the neighborhood’s skyline. 79
Original (up) and fiction (down)
Original (left) and fiction (right)
Jacob and Wilheim Grimm Library by Max Dudler
This project is a piece of urban art, a minimalist installation, the ‘less is more’ of emotion, where objects and the materials of which they are made count for nothing without the lights which transcend them. Dominique Perrault
National Library of France
by Dominique Perrault Paris, France 1989-1995
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
82
Dominique Perrault
Site Plan
National Library of France Collected Fictions
by Dominique Perrault Paris, France 1989-1995
“...these towers are Dominique Perrault’s modern take on the age-old Parisian tradition of monumnetal public architecture. The project is both volume and void, enclosure and exposure, a juxtaposition of contrasting ideas that is reverent of its place in a thousand-year-old legacy as it is deliberately self critical”.1 The modern library was a competition in 1989 and after Perrault was selected to complete the project, it was opened in 1995. Perrault described the design as minimalistic with liberated public space. The four beacon-like towers frame the inner courtyard allowing the project to become a dance between solids and voids. It is a play on the traditional great public architecture in Paris and carries a sense of monumentality and visual iconicity that is familiar to the local peoples. The library was built for “the creation of a new district...urban housing, offices, and activities, to rebalance the East side of Paris to the rest of the city”.2
83
1.”AD Classics: National Library of France / Dominique Perrault Architecture.” ArchDaily. January 12, 2011. Accessed October 28, 2018. https://www. archdaily.com/103592/ ad-classics-nationallibrary-of-francedominique-perrault-2.
2. Dominique Perrault
84
Collected Fictions
85
National Library of France by Dominique Perrault
86
Collected Fictions
87
National Library of France by Dominique Perrault
88
Collected Fictions
89
The overall plan and sections of the building are fairly orthagonal and simple. Every tower is different in size and height and the plan is a very standard rectangle that is proportionate. The fiction begins to disrupt the regularity of the original design. By eliminating parts of the towers, the plans are met with less regularity. Then by changing the order of the towers by raising or lowering the height of the tower in order to bring out one tower over the other. Instead of them standing together as a collective unit, they begin to compete with one another for the monumentalism of the whole library. National Library of France by Dominique Perrault
90
Collected Fictions
91
National Library of France by Dominique Perrault
Original Photo: Dominique Perrault Architecture (right) and fiction (left)
Original Photo: Georges Fessey (right) and fiction (left)
Original Photo: Georges Fessey (right) and fiction (left)
92
Original Photo: Georges Fessey (right) and fiction (left)
Original Photo: Dominique Perrault Architecture (right) and fiction (left)
Original Plan (right) and fiction (left)
Original Cross Section (right) and fiction (left)
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Elisa Medina-Jaudes
The collection of photographs and their alterations were about disrupting the order and minimalism Perrault had given to his design. By changing the heights of all the towers, as opposed to one or none, creates a sense of chaos and disorganization that is challenging the orignal ideas of the architect. The towers were supposed to represent beacon-like markers, but by changing heights, one can become more of a beacon over the others. And even though the inside of these towers all hold the same item, by changing their height, it creates a hierarchy of not only the structure, but the contents in it as well. The plan was designed to have a central garden with the towers marking each edge. But in the interior spaces, by extending the garden space, it subsequently extends the interior creating a sense of vastness and infinity to the project. In the last fiction presented, it can be seen that the exterior can effect what is seen from the interior. Lowering a tower can provide a view to the outside and past the library that would have otherwise not been seen if the towers were at their orignal height. This fiction overall displayed the disorder presented to a design that was meant to be minimal and organized when it was first constructed.
National Library of France by Dominique Perrault
93
In architecture, structure must always be appropriate to experience, which in return celebrates the innovation of construction technology. Henri Labrouste
Sainte Geneviève Library
by Henri Labrouste Paris, France 1838-1851
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
96
Henri Labrouste
Site Plan
Sainte Geneviève Library Collected Fictions
by Henri Labrouste Paris, France 1838-1851
Bibliothèque Ste. Genevieve was unquestionably one of the greatest cultural buildings of the nineteenth century to use iron in a prominent, visible way. On December 19th, 1839, the French architect, Henri Labrouste, presented the design that was not only a functional approach, but one that chanllenged traditional spatial order and typology. It took around seven years to complete the construction, from 1843-1850. The large (278 by 69 feet) two-storied structure filling a wide, shallow site is deceptively simple in scheme: the lower floor is occupied by stacks to the left, rare-book storage and office space to the right, with a central vestibule and stairway leading to the reading room which fills the entire upper story. The ferrous structure of this reading room—a spine of slender, castiron Ionic columns dividing the space into twin aisles and supporting openwork iron arches that carry barrel vaults of plaster reinforced by iron mesh—has always been revered by Modernists for its introduction of high technology into a monumental building. It was such advance technology that enabled the construction of the extreme window height to width ratio, resembling Gothic cathedral windows.
97
98
Collected Fictions
99
Sainte Geneviève Library by Henri Labrouste
100
Collected Fictions
101
Sainte Geneviève Library by Henri Labrouste
102
Elevation Cross section
Second floor plan
Collected Fictions
The building can be thought of as three volumes: the first volume, on the ground floor, is to stock precious collections in a dim space. Contrary to the first volume, the second volume is an extra tall reading room with large openings for aboundant light and optimal reading. The third volume is the staircase in the back of the building, connecting the previous volumes. The plan of the library was settled, rational and revolutionary. Walking through the building, the first thing one encounters is the recessed and humble doorway without the commonly used ionic columns as decorations. When one enters entrance hall, they immediately recognize the monumentality of the space with rows of square comlumns and flooring patterns that celebrates rationality. The storage space for books on the two wings was deviced for the first time to seperated books from readers. Ascending through the staircase, one arrives at the reading space that is completely open but at the same time divided into two vessels by the central colonnade. Sun light comes in freely through the elongated windows, reflecting on the inversed butresses, thus, lighting up the space for reading. It is the idealized image of a collective study open to all. Sainte Geneviève Library by Henri Labrouste
103
Original facade (left) and fiction (right). Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen.
Original reading room (left) and fiction (right). Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen.
104
Original physical model (left) and fiction (right). Photo by Stephane Kirkland.
Original cross section, elevation (left) and fiction (right)
Original plan (left) and fiction (right)
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Poyen Hsieh
The fiction challenges the construction technique of the time, and enhances the project in its logic further. Henri Labrouste’s innovative use of steel column and arch was ground-breaking but has become almost mondane for modern/contemporary eyes. By raising the second floor volume, taller windows are created, bringing in extra light for reading. Furthermore, this extreme height to width ratio of the windows has been associated with cathedrals, resulting in a even more monumental library. The building, thus, works not only in practical terms where people can enjoy an open and lit reading space but also for the architect’s intention of creating a new type of library that is monumental and functional at the same time. The original quote of Henri Labrouste is: “In architecture, form must always be appropriate to function. … A logical and expressive decoration must derive from the construction itself.”
Sainte Geneviève Library by Henri Labrouste
105
Every design is a rigorous attempt to capture a concrete moment of a transitory image in all its nuances. The extent to which this transitory quality is captured, is reflected in the designs: the more precise they are, the less vulnerable. Ă lvaro Siza
Viana do Castelo Municipal Library
by Ă lvaro Siza Viano do Castelo, Portugal 2008
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
108
Ă lvaro Siza. Photo by Yannis Bournias.
Site Plan
Viana do Castelo Municipal Library Collected Fictions
by Álvaro Siza Viana do Castelo, Portugal 2008
109
The library is sited between Lima River and Marginal Street. The building is composed of a raised volume- 45x45m- with a large central void of 20x20m, supported on ground level by an L-shaped volume. The second level of the building is raised primarily to ensure the visibility of the adjacent river on ground level. The program is distributed on two floors. On the ground floor lies an atrium, reception area, auditorium, bar, and staff facilities. The first floor houses a reading room, separated into children’s and adult sections, and a copy room. Public access is situated at the space defined by the central opening in the raised volume. Staff access is located at the eastern end of the complex, an enclosed service space separate from the public atrium. 1
1. “Archiweb - Viana Do Castelo Municipal Library.” Archiweb.cz. Accessed October 28, 2018. https://www. archiweb.cz/en/b/ mestska-knihovna-vianado-castelo-bibliotecamunicipal-de-viana-docastelo.
110
Collected Fictions
111
Viana do Castelo Municipal Library by Ă lvaro Siza
112
Collected Fictions
113
Viana do Castelo Municipal Library by Ă lvaro Siza
114
Collected Fictions
115
The proposed architecural expression is a result of the ground floor volume and the cantilevering elevated volume that it supports, ensuring visibility to the adjacent river. The building is characterized by its orthogonality in plan and section, the prevalance of long horizontal openings, exposed white concrete exterior, and skylights that bring generous light into the reading room. The result is a building that describes a dialogue between the landscape and built form.2 Viana do Castelo Municipal Library by Álvaro Siza
1. “Archiweb - Viana Do Castelo Municipal Library.” Archiweb.cz. Accessed October 28, 2018. https://www. archiweb.cz/en/b/ mestska-knihovna-vianado-castelo-bibliotecamunicipal-de-viana-docastelo.
116
Collected Fictions
117
Viana do Castelo Municipal Library by Ă lvaro Siza
Photo by Fernando Guerra (left) and fiction (right)
Photo by Joao Gameiro Neves (left) and fiction (right)
Photo by Fernando Guerra (left) and fiction (right)
118
Photo by Fernando Guerra (left) and fiction (right)
Original plans (left) and fiction (right)
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Dominika Michalska
This project is a visual manipulation of the library’s structure. The removal of the series of walls supporting the volume opens up views to the adjacent river, and the building appears to cantiliver out above its context, reinforcing its anti-gravitational quality.
119
Original Sections (top) and fiction (bottom)
Photo by Fernando Guerra (left) and fiction (right)
Viana do Castelo Municipal Library by Ă lvaro Siza
Photo by Liliana Dias (top) and fiction (bottom)
We should work for simple, good, undecorated things, but things which are in harmony with the human being and organically suited to the little man in the street. Alvar Aalto
Viipuri Library by Alvar Aalto Vyborg, Russia 1935
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
122
Alvar Aalto, 1970. Photo by Ensio Ilmonen
Site Plan
Viipuri Library Collected Fictions
by Alvar Aalto Vyborg, Russia 1935
Despite being one of the seminal works of modern Scandinavian architecture, Alvar Aalto’s Viipuri Library languished in relative obscurity for three-quarters of a century until its media breakthrough in late 2014. The library’s massing consists of one simple rectangular block, but the internal spatial organization is deceptively more complex. What is often described as three floors in plan is actually six or seven in section, resulting in a variegated array of volumetric conditions and a complex field of transitional spaces. The intricacy of the plans, however, reveals this diagram not to be so straightforward in practice.The circulation of this complex interior arrangement captures the essence of Aalto’s design. Analogizing to a flat land topography defined primarily by the uniformity in elevation, he strove to create a continuous “interweaving of the section and ground plan” and “a kind of unity of horizontal and vertical construction.”1 “When I designed the Viipuri City Library (and I had plenty of time, a whole five years), I spent long periods getting my range, as it were, with naive drawings. I drew all kinds of flat lands, with large areas lit by many suns in different positions, which gradually gave rise to the main idea of the building. The architectural framework of the library comprises several reading and lending areas stepped at different levels, with the administrative and supervisory centre at the peak. My childlike drawings were only indirectly linked with architectural thinking, but they eventually led to an interweaving of the section and ground plan, and to a kind of unity of horizontal and vertical construction.”2 (Alvar Aalto, “The Trout and the Stream”, 1947)
123
1. Passinmaki, Pekka. “The Trout, the Stream, and the Letting-Be. Alvar Aalto’s Contribution to the Poetic Tradition of Architecture.” Working paper – Alvar Aalto Researchers’ Network. Retrieved 1 December 2014 from http://www. alvaraaltoresearch.fi/ files/3213/6093/2171/ AAM_RN_Passinmaki.pdf 2. Göran Schildt (ed), Alvar Aalto in his Own Words. Otava, 1997, page 108.
124
Collected Fictions
125
Viipuri Library by Alvar Aalto
126
Collected Fictions
127
Viipuri Library by Alvar Aalto
128
Collected Fictions
129
Viipuri Library by Alvar Aalto
Interior Space, Photo by Denis Esakov, 2015 (left) and fiction (right)
Interior Space, Photo by Denis Esakov, 2015 (left) and fiction (right)
130 Interior Space, Photo by Denis Esakov, 2015 (left) and fiction (right)
Original Plan (up) and fiction (down)
Aerial Photo, Photo by The Finnish Committee for the Restoration of Viipuri Library,Pre-1940 (up) and fiction (down)
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Jeannette Pang
The overall volumetric composition of the building is modified. The original massing consists of two simple rectangular blocks that are offset horizontally from one another, but that has been transformed into one whole massive prism. This lifted some of the spaces within, causing there to be a change in depth. It also modifies how the building corresponds to Viipuri’s inspiration from the layered mountain landscape to what one would suggest a flat land.
131
Viipuri Library by Alvar Aalto
Significant steps must be taken to modernize and save from destruction or obsolescence the few remaining historic landmarks that are meaningful reminders of early New York. Francis Keally
The Brooklyn Public Library
by Raymond F. Almirall, Alfred Morton Githens, and Francis Keally Brooklyn, New York, USA 1911-1940
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
134
Francis Keally in NY, 1972.
Site Plan
The Brooklyn Public Library Collected Fictions
by Raymond F. Almirall, Alfred Morton Githens, and Francis Keally Brooklyn, New York, USA 1911-1940
The Central Building of the Brooklyn Public Library is located on one of Brooklyn’s most prominent sites, facing Grand Army Plaza at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway. The original architect Raymond F. Almirall only completed one-third of the building in an intended Beaux-Arts scheme. In 1935, the architects Alfred Githens and Francis Keally were commissioned to redesign the building, while retaining the existing steel skeleton, but heavily encouraged to alter the scale and sense of materiality to modernize this historical landmark and attract new visitors to this learning center. Their monumental design included a cascading limestone-clad Modern Classical upper level structure and Art Deco details. The windows are placed very low on the exterior of the building to expose a mass of limestone, creating an interesting juxtaposition between the rigid materiality against the curved shape of the front facade. This design was met with civic pride and public embrace as a result of the impressive exterior scale merged with practical simplistic interiors. This design of the Brooklyn Public Library is one of the borough’s best known and most heavily used public buildings.1
135
1. “Brooklyn Public Library, Central Building.” Landmarks Preservation Commission. June 17, 1997. Accessed October 10, 2018. http://smedia.nyc.gov/agencies/ lpc/lp/1963.pdf
136
Collected Fictions
137
The Brooklyn Public Library by Raymond F. Almirall, Alfred Morton Githens, and Francis Keally
138
Collected Fictions
The Brooklyn Central Library was chosen to be situated on a triangular lot at the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Flatbush Ave to create an irregular and unique shape. This triangulation is also seen on the front facade of the building as the cascading tiers creating a triangular shape above the main mass of the building reminiscent of a the layers of a cake. Furthermore, the wings on Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway lack curved walls to enhance this sense of triangularity and geometry. Overall the exterior wings surround and caress the curvilinear structures that lie towards the core of the building. Githens and Keally’s design additionally includes a gently designed terraced plaza, featuring broad shallow steps. The curved entry facade extends, rather than competes with, Grand Army Plaza’s elliptical configuration. Overall the mix of linearity and sharp edges against the vertical repetition of curves on the front facade create a sense of happy expectation and visual intrigue. The extension added to the end of the Flatbush Avenue wing also mimic the angularity inspired by the building site.
The Brooklyn Public Library by Raymond F. Almirall, Alfred Morton Githens, and Francis Keally
139
140
Collected Fictions
141
The Brooklyn Public Library by Raymond F. Almirall, Alfred Morton Githens, and Francis Keally
142
Collected Fictions
On both wings the architects have employed windows low on the facades, most of which appear to be like the original historical windows. These windows are deeply recessed and arranged with spandrels made from Virginia green albarene stone. The low placement of these windows disrupt the overall balance and proportions of the exterior facade creating visual weight at the base of the building. There are eleven sets of windows on Eastern Parkway and thirteen facing Flatbush Avenue. Thus the sunlight effectively streams onto the first floor, while the numerous floors above lack natural day lighting changing the interior nature of the space. As a result of these windows, the first floors are lofty light-filled circulation halls. The spacious first floor interior is emphasized by the repeating vertical columns that provide a sense of scale in comparison to the general library visitor. On the contrary, the upper levels are dark prompting the user to focus on the interior architectural elements and use of raw materials such as wood, concrete, and steel. The windows are a key factor in the sense of space experienced by the interior user. The two wings of the library are set back from the sidewalk and covered with trees and bushes. At this ground level there are doors with ironwork arranged in a criss cross pattern. This pattern creates small diamond shapes mimicking the implied point created at the top tier of the front cascading facade.
The Brooklyn Public Library by Raymond F. Almirall, Alfred Morton Githens, and Francis Keally
143
Exterior, Photo by Samuel Gottscho, 1941 (left) and fiction (right)
Renovation, 1940 (left) and fiction (right)
144 Exterior Windows (left) and fiction (right)
Building Exterior Extension, Photo by Carl Forster (left) and fiction (right)
Interior, Photo by Samuel Gottscho,1941 (left) and fiction (right)
Interior, Photo by Samuel Gottscho,1941 (left) and fiction (right)
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Lauren Charpentier
This fiction added overall height and repetition of form to the exterior front facade of the building. This change in scale and lowering of the windows created a new interpretation of balance and materials on the exterior that consequently effected the interior nature of the space by eliminating natural day lighting to all floors except the first floor. The presence or lack of light in the interior photographs draws the eye to architectural elements such as lofty columns, or curved wooden egress ways. Lastly, the curved extension of the Flatbush Avenue wing was flattened to highlight the angularity of the buildings site. These changes highlight the potential of historic preservation.
145
Exterior Windows, Photo by Carl Forster (left) and fiction (right)
Site Plan, 2018 (left) and fiction (right)
First Floor Plan, Drawn by VBA, 2006 (left) and fiction (right)
The Brooklyn Public Library by Raymond F. Almirall, Alfred Morton Githens, and Francis Keally
The metropolis strives to reach a mythical point where the world is completely fabricated by man, so that it absolutely coincides with his desires. Rem Koolhaas
The Seattle Central Library by Rem Koolhaas Seattle, Washington, USA 1999-2004
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
148
Rem Koolhaas
Site Plan
The Seattle Central Library Collected Fictions
by Rem Koolhaas Seattle, Washington, USA 1999-2004
When the library is a part of the metropolis, recognizing the library as one of the high-rise buildings become more and more reasonable. Since the vastly increase of information and the ways of carrying information, the Seattle Central Library redefines the library as an institution no longer exclusively dedicated to the book, but as an information store where all potent forms of media—new and old—are presented equally and legibly.1 Under the age of shrinking public realm on one hand and the various needs of people on the other, the idea having a high-rise public library in the city could provide sufficient space for people who live in the metropolis. Thus, the library is not just a place for reading paper books, but also it is a third place for people to have a rest and entertainment.
149
1. “Seattle Central Library / OMA LMN.” ArchDaily. February 10, 2009. Accessed October 29, 2018. https://www. archdaily.com/11651/ seattle-central-libraryoma-lmn.
150
Collected Fictions
151
The Seattle Central Library by Rem Koolhaas
152
Collected Fictions
153
Combining various programs and media, the library generally contains two types of programmatic clusters, “the stable” clusters including parking, staff, meeting, Book Spiral, headquarters, and the “unstable” clusters including kids, living room, mixing chamber, reading room. Each area is architecturally defined and equipped for dedicated performance, with varying size, flexibility, circulation, palette, and structure. The diverse types of spaces enrich the meaning of library and give people a better space to leisure, reading, and playing. Following the development of the society, the library is not just a library. The Seattle Central Library by Rem Koolhaas
154
Collected Fictions
155
The Seattle Central Library by Rem Koolhaas
156
Exterior and Interior Space, Photo by Philippe Ruault, 2009 (left) and fiction (right)
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Binhan Tang
The fiction discusses bout the existance of the library within the metropolis. It gives the possibility of rethinking how libraries would interact with mega cities containing tons of skyscrapers. The library could be a part of those of high-rise buildings and have its own view from above. Comparing to the original images, the fiction modifies the height of the library and changes the environment situation into mega city with plenty of skyscrapers. Also, the interior image shows the spectacular outside view from a higher level with modified steel frames.
157
Original Cross Section (up) and fiction (down)
The Seattle Central Library by Rem Koolhaas
I am trying to counter the fixity of architecture, their stolidity, with elements that give an ineffable immaterial quality. Toyo Ito
Tama Art University Library
by Toyo ito & Associates Hachioji City, Tokyo, Japan 2004-2007
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
160
Toyo Ito, 2013. Photo by Yoshiaki Tsutsui
Site Plan
Tama Art University Library Collected Fictions
by Toyo ito & Associates Hachioji City, Tokyo, Japan 2004-2007
161
TheLibrary is located in Hachioji Campus, University Tama Art in the suburbs of Tokyo, Japan. Passing through the main gate, the site is located behind a front garden with large and small trees, and extends to a gentle slope. The original idea that emerged was to create a wide open gallery, covered by arches on the ground floor, which serve as a passageway for people crossing the campus. This space on the ground floor symbolizes a cave where stalactites make an order not associated with any apparent plot or geometry. To allow flows and opinions of these people freely penetrate into the building, the architect began to think of a randomly placed arches structure that would create the impression that the sloped floor and landscape the front yard was still inside the building.
Reference: DeZeen Magazine article: “Tama Art University Library by Toyo Ito�. https://www. dezeen.com/2007/09/11/ tama-art-universitylibrary-by-toyo-ito/
162
Collected Fictions
163
Tama Art University Library by Toyo Ito & Associates
164
Collected Fictions
165
Tama Art University Library by Toyo Ito & Associates
166
Collected Fictions
167
The main materials used to construct the building have been the reinforced concrete structure, glass windows, and aluminum frames. The final volume design corresponds to a structural frame formed by the intersection of arches curves. Tama Art University Library by Toyo Ito & Associates
168
Collected Fictions
169
Spatial diversity is experienced while walking through the different bows, and elevation changes provide different sensations of being in a cloister filled with natural light or printing a tunnel that cannot be penetrated visually. Tama Art University Library by Toyo Ito & Associates
170
Original Photos (left), Fictions (right) Original Photos by Rasmus Hjortshøj
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Claudia Lu
This fiction is meant to alter the flatness of the facade of the architecture. With the added depth to the exterior windows and the inconsistent thickness to the interior arches, this sleek-looking contemporary library gives the concrete a monumental feeling. In terms of the form, the arches already carry a sense of spatial narrative. The variations of the arches also provide the space with interesting and complex experience.
171
Original Photos (up), Fictions (down) Section, Drawing by Toyo Ito & Associates
Tama Art University Library by Toyo Ito & Associates
I am trying to pick out the architectural essence of each cultural area and synthesize it into one piece. Eun Young Yi
Stuttgart City Library by Eun Young Yi Stuttgart, Germany 2011
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
174
Eun Young Yi, 2013
Site Plan
Stuttgart City Library Collected Fictions
by Eun Young Yi Stuttgart, Germany 2011
The site for the Stuttgart City Library was chosen in Mailänder Platz, an area that is perceived to be a future city centre growing out of the location of the library. With this in mind, the architects chose to physically express the importance of this cultural centre by giving the building a grand physical presence. The building takes the form of cube with an edge length of 45 meters in plan and 60 meters in height. The form and symmetry of entrance of the building was inspired by the “Cenotaph for Newton” by Étienne Boullée, but the heart and core of the library follows the design of the ancient pantheon. Protected by a secondary façade, the cube-shaped room is situated in the middle of the building and is illuminated by a central roof light. The gallery hall is a five-story space, squareshaped and surrounded by a shell of books. The interior circulation is arranged in a spiral among the reading gallery areas, designed to be flowing promenades flooded with light from the glass roof. The forum, a third central room, is located below the heart. This is an event room which is in proximity to the light-railway line that crosses the first and second basement floors.
175
176
Collected Fictions
177
Stuttgart City Library by Eun Yong Yi
178
Collected Fictions
179
Stuttgart City Library by Eun Yong Yi
180
Collected Fictions
181
Stuttgart City Library by Eun Yong Yi
182
Collected Fictions
183
Stuttgart City Library by Eun Yong Yi
Exterior Space, Photo by Stefan Müller, 2011 (left) and fiction (right)
Exterior Space, Photo by Stefan Müller, 2011 (left) and fiction (right)
184
Exterior Space, Photo by Stefan Müller, 2011 (leftmost) and fiction (right)
Lower Plan, 2011 (left) and fiction (right)
Sectional Model (left) and fiction (right)
Interior Core (left) and fiction (right)
Lower Plan, 2011 (left) and fiction (right)
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Tianqi Cui
The fiction aims to alter the perfect cubic form of Stuttgart City Library by enlongating its height. Two extra levels were added to the upper gallery and one extra level for the bottom chamber. The original homogeneous facade pattern was also changed to a certain degree by omitting some openings. The inside chamber within the shell now has singular light source of skylight and has been enlongated vertically, which makes the entrance space even more sublime and sacred. Different lighting settings were also utilized in the fiction mainly for the upper gallery, such as powder blue and pink. These colorful lightings aim to create a sharp contrast with the pure, innocent and minimal inside shell space.
185
Interior Space, Photo by Stefan MĂźller, 2011 (left) and fiction (right)
Stuttgart City Library by Eun Yong Yi
There is a lot of repetition there with certain elements being added or subtracted. It is an apparent complexity. Alberto Kalach
JosĂŠ Vasconcelos Library
by Alberto Kalach & Juan Palomar Verea Mexico City, Mexico 2006
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
188
Alberto Kalach in 2012.
Juan Palomar Verea on February 14, 2014.
Site Plan
José Vasconcelos Library Collected Fictions
by Alberto Kalach & Juan Palomar Verea Mexico City, Mexico 2006
The Vasconcelos Library in Mexico City was deisgned to be a mega-library in which one could “get completely lost”. The idea of the labyrinth came to Kalach and Verea through the study of The Library of Babel and other historical precedents. The use of exposed structure and identical building block units composed in a geometrical masterform make the space feel infinite, almost like a self-contained city. With no overhead light from above, the main hall would feel like an inescapable “city of books”. The intense grid-like nature of the building could be seen as a mutable condition that could be manipulated to give a different sense of space or density within the hall. The grounded exterior gives the building weight while keeping the interior separate from the outside world while the grand interior serves to make one feel that they are in a different world altogether. The dizzying effect of an eternal and three dimensional grid geometry lends itself well to a search for the steadfast knowledge as well as ethereal philosophies that exist within the library.
189
190
Collected Fictions
191
JosĂŠ Vasconcelos Library by Alberto Kalach & Juan Palomar Verea
192
Collected Fictions
193
JosĂŠ Vasconcelos Library by Alberto Kalach & Juan Palomar Verea
194
Collected Fictions
195
The design manifests alberto kalach’s desire to seize every opportunity to create green space In the polluted, aggressively built context. These two typologies are not so divergent, as the library houses human knowledge, and the garden is planted with a rich sample of local flora. The heavy concrete structure is lightened with an extensive glass enclosure. At the exterior, the rhythm of mullions parallels the densely planted garden which acts as a screen between the inner working of the library and its planted landscape. The facade’s horizontal strata provide ample shading for the reading areas beneath the transparent skin. Inside, central media stacks appear to float above the grand lobby. Their orthogonal plan is staggered in section, creating an intricate network of pathways and balconies that resemble a plant’s root system. Canted walls step back from the retaining walls, allowing light and air to infiltrate the entire edifice.
José Vasconcelos Library by Alberto Kalach & Juan Palomar Verea
196
Collected Fictions
197
JosĂŠ Vasconcelos Library by Alberto Kalach & Juan Palomar Verea
Central Hall, 2007 (left) and fiction (right)
Exterior Facade (left) and fiction (right)
198
Interior Space, 2008 (left) and fiction (right)
Cross Section (left) and fiction (right)
Original Cross Section (up) and fiction (down)
Interior Space, 2006 (left) and fiction (right)
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Meghan Mahoney
By multiplying the grid structure of the building, a more densified feel was added to the overall appearance of the interior space. Grounding the exterior of the building and making the interior more dense the library takes on a darker labyrinthian personality. Manipulating the grid to add weight and reduce light as well as access to the bright exterior light creates a more secluded space than the original open, airy plan.
199
Interior Space, 2007 (left) and fiction (right)
Central Hall, 2006 (left) and fiction (right)
JosĂŠ Vasconcelos Library by Alberto Kalach & Juan Palomar Verea
Less is more. Mies van der Rohe
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library by Mies van der Rohe Washington, D.C., USA 1972
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
202
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in S.R., 1975. Photo by Hedrich Blessing
Site Plan
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library Collected Fictions
by Mies van der Rohe Washington, D.C., USA 1972
A pure symbol of innovative architecture of the time, the 400,000 square foot rectangle sits om a raised plinth which begins to disappear as the monumental mass floats above. As architecture, the MLK Jr. Memorial Library along with many others designed by Mies van der Rohe, becomes synonymous with simplistic modernist design. Black anodized aluminum and gray-tinted glass are used together to create a uniform skin that gives the appearance of a single imposing and impressive volume. This clarity of form and reduction of structure are distinguishable and tribute to the lifelong debate surrounding structural simplicity, organizational scale, material expression, proportion, and constructive detail.
203
204
Collected Fictions
205
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library by Mies van der Rohe
206
Collected Fictions
In this project Ludwig Mies van der Rohe creates a floating modern box which places emphasis on its form while removing emphasis from his structure. This highly geometric structure seems to float along the street as this grid begins to disappear near the base of the project. Known for his approach of hiding key structural elements, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe creates a project which serves as a culmination of the structural theory he developed throughout his life. This quality is translated to the interior as well where the structure is painted over to be as minimal as possible. This architectural move creates a series of articulated planes that span the building, leaving the structural implications of the project to the user’s imagination.
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library by Mies van der Rohe
207
208
Collected Fictions
209
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library by Mies van der Rohe
Exterior Space, Photo by Leonid Furmansky, 2018 (left) and fiction (right)
Facade Photo by Leonid Furmansky, 2018 (left) and fiction (right)
210
Original Plan (left) and fiction (right)
Original Construction Photo (left) and fiction (right)
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Kwesi Kwapong
This project describes a reduction of structural emphasis by removing the exterior columns on the ground floor and altering the material quality of the interior columns. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial library is a project that was one of the fist examples of a library in a modern architectural style in the United States. The rigid adherence to a structural grid allows Ludwig Mies van der Rohe to make use of expansive windows that result an interpretation of the faรงade being purely glass and steel. This prominence of the structural grid leads one to speculate the possibilities of the project without this structural articulation. The fictional space challenges the necessity of the grid, opening up the ground floor and removing the structural expression that is critical to many projects designed by Mies. These moves contest the notions of structural purity and grate a space with a focus entirely on the geometrical form.
Interior Space, D.C. Public Archives , 2014 (left) and fiction (right)
IFacade Photo by Leonid Furmansky, 2018 (left) and fiction (right)
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library by Mies van der Rohe
211
This library will be for generations...nay, for centuries, a source of inspiration. Andrew Dickson White
John M. Olin Library
by Warner, Burns, Toan & Lunde Ithaca, New York, USA 1959-1961
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
214
Site Plan
John M. Olin Library Collected Fictions
by Warner, Burns, Toan & Lunde Ithaca, New York, USA 1959-1961
215
On February 6th, 1961, John M. Olin Library was opened as the first research purpose facility in Cornell University. Designed by Warner, Burns, Toan & Lunde, the design of the library emphasizes the straight lines both in horizontal and vertical directions; the mullions of the facade and the grid-like interior design shows this characteristic. Previously Boardman Hall was located at the site of Olin Library; it was built as a new law school of the university. When designing Olin Library, the firm was aware of Boardman Hall and also the buildings around the Arts Quad which are one of the oldest buildings of Cornell University. The library is divided into seven stories which the programs are distributed sectionally; public programs are on the lower levels and private programs are on the upper levels.
Reference John M. Olin Library Introductory Guidebook. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Library, 1961.
216
Collected Fictions
217
John M. Olin Library by Warner, Burns, Toan & Lunde
218
Collected Fictions
219
John M. Olin Library by Warner, Burns, Toan & Lunde
Exterior view, 1965 (left) and fiction (right)
Exterior view (left) and fiction (right)
220
Exterior view (left) and fiction (right)
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Iris Hong
This fiction distorts the prominent image of John M. Olin Library of Cornell University. Located at the heart of the university, Olin Library is a hub full of students and faculty everyday which makes its monolithic massing almost invisible; the library becomes a part of everyone’s daily life. By manipulating the facade of the library, the fiction reminds the prominent existence of grid pattern and its proportion to one another. Also, the building is transformed to become an abstract and pure prismatic volume, avoiding any reference to its metal sloped roof. John M. Oline Library is situated on one of the edges of Arts Quad forming the courtyard-like atmosphere of the quad with other surrounding buildings. Because the libray blends so well with the environment and also we are exposed to its strucutre everday, sometimes the library is almost invisible to our perception. This fiction aims to intrigue readers to think about the library once again not only in terms of its each relationship to the surroundings but also of itself as a library.
John M. Olin Library by Warner, Burns, Toan & Lunde
221
Pure perfection is beautiful. Toyo Ito
Sendai Mediatheque
by Toyo Ito & Associates Sendai-shi, Japan 2001
Collected Fictions
AAP College of Architecture, Art and Planning Cornell University
224
Toyo Ito, 2013. Photo by Yoshiaki Tsutsui
Model and Site Plan
Sendai Mediatheque Collected Fictions
by Toyo Ito & Associates Sendai-shi, Japan 2001
225
Toyo Ito considers Sendai Mediatheque to be the pinnacle of his cubeist and perfectionist career. “With the intentions of designing a transparent cultural media center that is supported by a unique system to allow complete visibility and transparency to the surrounding community, the Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito is revolutionary in it’s engineering and aesthetic. The simplest intentions of compressing plates (floors), tubes (columns), and skin (facade/exterior walls) into a perfect cube allows for a poetic and visually intriguing design, as well as a complex system of activities and informational systems”.1 “Sendai Mediatheque is a public institution that provides a base for a variety of cultural activities, mainly related to art and moving images. At the same time, it constitutes a space that, through diverse media, facilitates exchanges and utilizations of information. Sendai Mediatheque flexibly provides the most up-todate, cutting-edge cultural resources. Maximizing the potential of its networks, sendai mediatheque aims to serve as a node, and not a terminal”.2
1.”AD Classics: Sendai Mediatheque / Toyo Ito & Associates.” ArchDaily. March 9, 2011. Accessed October 26, 2018. https://www. archdaily.com/118627/ ad-classics-sendaimediatheque-toyo-ito 2.”Concept and Services.” Sendai Mediatheque. 2014. Accessed October 27, 2018. https://www.smt. jp/en/about
226
Collected Fictions
227
Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito
228
Collected Fictions
229
Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito
Original Photos (up) and fiction (down)
230
Original Model Photo (up) and fiction (down)
Original Model Photo (left) and fiction (right)
Collected Fictions
Appendix This project is a fiction by Brandon Nolasco
With the primary concept of Sendai Mediatheque being layers of plates and glass skewered together with truss columns, the residual form is with distinguishable parts. There is no prescribed formal geometry but rather a formal set of operations that would then produce the final form. In this variation, the project is forced to accept the formal shape of a cube, shifting the priorites of the project concept and and the morphing the proportions of the project form. This action notably veils the building with an additional “layer”—a rigorously formal geometry.
231
Original Model Photo (up) and fiction (down)
Original Section Drawing (left) and fiction (right)
Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito