the role of the library is changing in the 21st century. in the age of digital media, in order to remain relevant library must take on a greater urban focus. the libraries of tomorrow should become the focal point of a city – an incubator for ideas, debate and innovation. they cannot stand aloof from their context but must rather be integrated into the fabric of the city, as a civic space that is open to all and universally accessible.
this proposal for daegu gosan public library is imagined as a space carved out of the city’s urban fabric. following a survey of the project context, the design was formed as an imprint of the different formal trajectories of the surrounding buildings. these vectors were deployed as cutting and carving tools, which split and broke up the volume created by the programmatic brief for the library. from the assemblage produced, three of the eight corner points were then eroded away to form public courtyards, covered spaces and an atrium. the pattern formed through the cutting operation creates a façade of fragmented panels, which are orientated along different angles creating an every changing interplay of light and shadow across the exterior of the building.
like a cave hewn out of the rock through the forces of water and wind, urban imprint has emerged through the generative forces that form the city. an urban cave; it is a room within the city, open to daegu and its people.
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