(Photograph by tqtq studio)
Most public community centers in Seoul have a small libraries.
Although the library size is small, it has an important cultural meaning that every neighborhood can read and lend out a book in the public community center. However, many people do not know its existence, so the utilization rate is low. All public community center needs to actively promote the library. In addition, the quantity and quality of books, as well as the quality of space, will add sustainability to the library utilization rate. The project began with the question of what kind of library should it be in each neighborhood.
Previously, the small library in Suseo-dong was full of books with layers of books and tightly inserted. We thought community library to become a space where read and talk about a book or meet with their neighborhood naturally, rather than a quiet concentration space like a study library room. In addition to the existing function of lending out a book, we hoped to be reborn as a place where people could enjoy books and meet people. It was to change the owner of the space from the space of the book to the space of the residents with the book.
We secured a wider area by integrating a corridor from an elevator to a workspace, which previously occupied a large area, to a small library from a stairwell. Instead, the library was planned in the form of an open library with no walls or corridors. The existing books can accommodate all the books that were tightly inserted, and various forms of books such as tables that can sit alone looking at windows, circular benches for multiple people, cascaded benches for viewing or choosing books, and spaces for people are arranged. A pattern of oblique lines was designed on the floor to mark the movements of existing corridors. Overall, the bench, which can sit together in a calm and warm atmosphere with wood and gray tone, serves as a central space with green colors and lighting. It is hoped that the civil service office of the community center is a space where the certificate is issued and turned right away and that the library is not space where the book is checked out and left immediately. We hope that it will be a place where the nearest and most minimal cultural life of the residents who want to stay a little longer can be possible.