Collective Knowledge, Collective Space

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0.1 TITLE

Collective Knowledge, Collective Space

0.2 SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

The subject of research is society’s desire for collectivity in the individual pursuit of knowledge, and its spatial implications. We are living in an information age. New technologies have bread new information media, and new media have learned how to adapt themselves to an increasingly fast paced world. What was once only accessible from a single, public resource, soon found its way into the home, and before long, crept into our backpacks and even our pockets. Coupled with new information media is the changing notion of access. Wireless networks are currently being developed that blanket entire cities, exploding the notion of an access point to an ever expanding sphere of information. The decreasing size, and subsequent increasing portability of information media, coupled with the advent of the internet and wireless access, has contributed to the unlimited dissemination of information. Soon there will be nowhere left to go where information is not constantly and readily available to be accessed, manipulated, transformed and transmitted back into the infinite stream of data that surrounds us all.

Why then, if we live in a world where the dissemination of information is total and without exception, do people still tend to congregate in public settings to access it? If comfort or familiarity were defining factors of where people chose to interact with information, then the home would be favored over cafés, libraries, food courts, and other public places, but observation tells us otherwise. Many people choose an uncomfortable hard backed chair in a café with a table barely big enough to accommodate their laptops to research a given topic, over their favorite armchair at home. This points to the fact that information access is an activity best enjoyed in the presence of others engaged in similar pursuits. Not only is there desire for this type of collective engagement, but there is value in it as well. Many library users, for instance, aren’t necessarily there to access a particular collection, but rather find the atmosphere conducive to learning, and thus feel more attuned to partake in their own pursuit of knowledge.

The library is an institution that owes its existence to, not only, being a source of information, but moreover, a container for the physical media of information. With an increasing amount of information being produced as intangible media, like e-books, websites, podcasts, and other digital formats, the need and use of the library has been called into question. Assuming that with time, technology will overcome the present discomfort of reading from illuminated displays for extended periods, the convenience of digital media will render the book obsolete, and alter the definition of the library as we know it. In order to remain relevant, libraries will need to shift their focus from providing spaces to contain media, to providing spaces conceived for communal information access. This is not to say that libraries will be totally absent of a physical collection, but that the relation of the collection to the user will be fundamentally changed. Books will be increasingly thought of as precious artifacts, and will be relegated to rare books divisions for proper preservation. The Library will serve as guardian, transcriber and diffuser, in a kind of digital scriptorium, making the book both more accessible and more mysterious to the user.

With the gradual change in relationship between physical information media, and the user, comes a great deal of change in spatial relationships between information, and user within the library itself. Throughout the history of the library, books have served as functional elements, organizers of space and symbols of a greater world of knowledge. Although the book may still be present in future libraries, its limited use will transform the meaning of the book and garner an uncanny relationship between the printed text and the reader. It will be partially up to the users themselves to recreate the world of knowledge authored by the book. By displaying the user in the act of seeking, and engaging with information, the library will harness the symbolic and atmospheric potential that is contagious amongst its users. The displayed book, could still act as an organizational device, dividing the library, and its users, into specific categories of interest, much the same way the Dewey Decimal System functioned in the past. Bringing together users interested in common areas of research would help foster more meaningful and fruitful interaction.

In order to further exploit the potential of the engaged user, the public library would benefit greatly by forming a partnership with an institution that is centered around scholarly research, like a University. By including university functions within the library, and thus mixing students, who are perpetually engaged in research, with the general public, the library will effectively be able to maintain a permanent collection of users to attract others in similar pursuits.

The need for the library to become a gathering place, in a technological context that allows for unprecedented alienation from public life, has never been greater. With transforming media, new forms and new spatial relationships will be necessary to maintain the scholarly atmosphere of libraries past, and allow old knowledge to breed new knowledge.

0.21 PRIMARY SOURCES

Battles, Matthew. Library: an Unquiet History. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2003.

Matthew Battles explores the history of the library from a sociological standpoint in Library: an Unquiet History. The book explores both the changing functions of the library, as well as its changing role within society. This sheds light on the value of the centralized public institution beyond media-warehouse, and gives a historical context for future interventions.

Borgman, Christine L. From Gutenberg to the Global Information Infrastructure: Access to Information in the Networked World. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2000.

In Christine L. Borgman’s book: From Gutenberg to the Global Information Infrastructure: Access to Information in the Networked World, she approaches the question of technology’s role in the access of information by examining information-related behavior. One measure of a library’s success is its efficiency as a mediator between user and information. Gaining a comprehensive view of how we interact with information will have a great influence over the spatial organization and composition of the library.

Romanyshyn, Robert D. Technology as Symptom & Dream. London: Routledge, 1989.

Robert D. Romanyshyn’s book, Technology as Symptom & Dream gives a comprehensive overview of the history of technology, its relation to society, and technology theory. By gaining an understanding of how information technologies and media were developed, and what the effect of new, more convenient, technologies supplanting older ones is, it allows us to postulate a future in which our present technologies become less relevant.

0.22 FORMAL EXAMPLES

O.M.A. Seattle Public Library. Seattle, WA: 2004

O.M.A.’s recent addition to the typology of the library in Seattle is based on the same principles of collectivity that the thesis wishes to explore. Where it differs is that the Seattle Public Library functions largely as any traditional library does, with the addition of some new media spaces. The thesis wishes to explore how collective environments, conducive to thought and information interaction, can be created in a nearby future context of new media.

S.O.M. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library: Yale University. New Haven, CT: 1963.

The SOM library at Yale University is good example of how the power and aura associated with the physical book can be preserved within a space, without having direct contact with the users. Some would argue that the will to access information is made greater by the mysterious disconnection between reader and book; the uncanny at work.

Lanchester & Lodge. Botherton Library: University of Leeds. Leeds, UK: 1930.

The Botherton Library at Leeds University is a typical example of a round library centered around a central reading room, and lined with books. The books are categorized within the Dewey Decimal System and smaller scale spaces are associated with each category of knowledge. This type of system was, and largely still is, an incredibly effective way of situating the reader within a greater context of worldly knowledge. The circular form, coated with texts, completely envelope the user in an entirely inward looking experience. The thesis aims to create a similar experience, while at the same time, adapting to a more a contemporary context of new media and social attitudes towards learning.

0.3 METHODOLOGY

0.31 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research methodologies I intend to use are as follows:

§  Mapping techniques related to existing site conditions such as:

pedestrian flow

student flow

transit flow

surrounding building functions (public/private, student/public)

views

In order to ensure the library invites both the general population and the student population, the existing site conditions must be fully understood in relation to both groups. Given the unique nature of the site’s information saturation special concern must be taken to preserve the scholarly quality of the building’s interior.

§  Existing library typologies

By examining the history of library form, ideology, and function within society, parallels may be drawn and reinterpreted to compliment a contemporary context. Particular attention will be paid to the function of books within existing libraries and the uncanny nature of traditional library experience (infinite stacks containing infinite volumes of infinite words...).

§  Analysis of how human’s interact with information

Analyzing the physical and psychological aspects of how people interpret, manipulate and interact with information will inform the types, and qualities of spaces designed for the library users. Identifying potential differences and/or similarities in information behavior between students and the general public, will aid in creating a more fruitful dialogue amongst the primary user groups. This research will be of both a psychological nature and a critical assessment of new information environments.

0.32 DESIGN METHODOLOGY

The Design methodologies I intend to use are as follows.

§  Detailed renderings

In order to test the atmospheric qualities of the spaces created, renderings will be the most effective way to adjust variables like, materiality, light and use of space. In a more preliminary way, detailed renderings will allow for conceptual tests of basic principles derived from further research.

§  Large scale working models (including site)

The relation of the library to the site will be an essential factor in its success. How the building relates to both the general public and the student population and its ability to bring both groups together will be best judged by examining large scale physical models, in conjunction with mapping data of the site.

0.4 SITE SELECTION

The chosen site is currently a 3750m2 public square in the heart of downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Yonge and Dundas. The peculiar shape of the square is a result of an extension of Dundas street in the early part of the 20th century. A number of unaligned east-west subdivision roads were amalgamated into one meandering urban artery. Yonge street has its own extensive history and retains bragging rights as being the longest street in the world, stretching from Lake Ontario all the way to the town of Rainy River, near Barrie in northern Ontario. Yonge street originated as a Huron Indian trail, and has seen increasing use ever since. The site itself was occupied by four retail buildings until the late nineties, when expropriation rights lead to their demolition as part of Yonge street’s rejuvenation plan. It was conceived that Yonge-Dundas Square would be the central catalyst to spur a new image for Yonge street that had recently become a seedy area.

The local firm of Brown & Storey Architects won the international design competition, and put into place a large, hard, unprogrammed, public square with a municipal parking structure to accommodate 270 cars beneath. The square was officially opened in November of 2002, and since has been slandered by local media and Torontonian’s alike as being an inhuman space that discourages public congregation or interaction. Part of the blame for the creation of this ‘non-place’ rests on the shoulders of the designers and the other part seems to be due to the security guards that routinely patrol the privately owned and operated ‘public’ space. Due to the square’s vast size and openness, the only successful appropriations of the square have been by large planned events, like the square’s grand opening concert in May of 2003. Other than these large scale gatherings, for which a hefty sum must be paid to the square’s owners, the granite slab at the busy intersection of Yonge and Dundas is used primarily as a through space, with more public congregation occurring in front of the Eaton Center to the West of the square. However, the through traffic is considerable. PenEquity, a development company managing two major constructions bordering the square, have estimated that 54.8 million people pass through Yonge-Dundas Square annually. This might explain why almost all the buildings built, or being built around the square, are encrusted with some of the largest advertisement displays in the world. The idea seems to be that by creating a Time’s Square environment it will both attract tourists to the city and create a large public forum for commercial advertising bombardment.

As an interesting twist, the North-East corner of the square marks one of the bounding corners of Ryerson University, who gave over development rights to the current site of the AMC Metropolis, in exchange for use of the theaters as lecture halls. Ryerson began as a Polytechnic school, and has retained its close connection to the city with its open, urban campus. The University is currently devising a new master plan under newly appointed President Sheldon Levy’s advisement. The first objective of the plan is to provide:

An innovative learning centre that will provide a new and expanded library and more quality study space for students, and also provide areas for community use;

 A welcoming front door and an inviting presence on Yonge Street

Yonge-Dundas Square, given its proximity to the University, its prime location to act as a public face for Ryerson, and its need for redevelopment, would make it a prime location for the school’s intended new library and the creation of a truly public space.