This project experiments with subtraction and intersection to juxtapose
different forms of knowledge found within a contemporary community
college. Traditionally, a library is a symbol for knowledge through
the collection and indexing of books. However, a contemporary library
needs to address the diverse forms of knowledge present in an academic
institution.
In this project, the bookstacks are organized as a tartan grid, which
acts as the solid mass of the library. This arrangement of bookstacks
is flexible and porous, containing study spaces, classrooms, labs, and
offices integrated into the bookstacks. This mass of the library is
then subtracted from, using recognizable shapes intersecting in plan
and shifting in section. The two resultant conditions are the solid of
the book stacks, circulation, and supporting program, which are all
strictly ordered, and the void spaces, which encourages the adaptation
of different program.
Subtractions make the library porous, extending the site of Citrus
College into the library and inviting the student body to explore the
spaces within.
