Contemporary library architecture as event : a cultural study

Abstract

The public library is at a crossroads. Whereas for much of the past century and a half, public libraries held a deeply-rooted and defined role as a house of knowledge, they are now undergoing rapid and sometimes volatile changes. Indeed, some have characterised the present moment as a crisis which will result in the extinction of the library. As digital technologies rapidly diffuse, the library's essential identity is continually questioned. Perhaps one of the most lingering concerns is the question: Why spend millions in constructing elaborate buildings to house printed books when a quick online search can provide access to the knowledge one seeks from the comfort of one's home?' In acknowledging the validity of such challenges, this dissertation examines the public library from a critical lens. It brings to bear a variety of viewpoints and arguments which highlight the ways in which the institution has evolved in spite (or perhaps because) of these changes. Rather than allowing the crisis to overcome them, many contemporary libraries have focused on their unique features as an advantage; their very physical structure and their potential for becoming the central gathering and educational spaces for an urban community. For these reasons, the following study approaches the public library as a cultural and architectural text which is worthy of academic study due to its potential in encouraging intellectual stimulation. The overall aim of the dissertation is twofold: to uncover the value and the full potential of the physical public library in the contemporary age; and to uncover possible trajectories for the public library of the future. These arguments inform the method of argumentation which draws together a variety of philosophical, architectural and theoretic