This quarter and next quarter my main focus in school will be on my senior capstone project. It's a culmination of everything I've learned, and is a design project that I've done all the legwork on, solo.
I am designing a children's library/reading room in Over the Rhine. There is a tremendous need for kids in this area of Cincinnati to have a safe and comfortable environment to retreat to and develop a love of reading. Studies have shown that kids who are read aloud to do better in nearly every stage of their development. Kids in Over the Rhine more than likely do not have the resources or the environment in their own home to have a happy reading haven. When standing at the intersection of E. McMicken and Vine, it is nearly a mile's walk to the main branch of the Public Library. Not only is there a community need, but having an environment built exclusively for children is something that all Cincinnatians can embrace and come visit.
My "client" *this is merely an educational project, and is not likely to happen!!* is the Cincinnati Public Library. I contacted their PR rep and got permission to modify their logo. This is my rebranded take on their logo for my project:
The building I've chosen to use is the former French Bauer Dairy building located at 1315 Clay Street. It's got a wider span than the majority of the Italianate style buildings that make up the building stock of OTR, and it has a fantastic story behind it. The Bauer Dairy used this building as their garage. The milk carriages were stored on the bottom floor, and the horses lived on the second and third floors! There is an existing ramp that the horses used to get from floor to floor that I will be repurposing in the new space. The bricks even have hoof prints from where they were kicked by the horses.
The idea of the horse ramps carrying children up through the space is one of the driving factors behind my design. Children interact with books in different ways as they develop, and this is manifested in each of the three floors. The first floor is primarily for young children - passive readers. They interact with books in a very social way through activities and story time. The second floor is for smaller groups with children who are learning to recognize words and still need to be interacted with - cuddle spaces for parent and child. This floor has picture book stacks. The third floor is a world for the solitary reader, with spaces for a kid to be alone with her nose in a book.
This is my first set of drawings for my space:
Please let me know what you think!! I need as much help as I can get, and any and all critique is appreciated :)
This looks wonderful, and I hope you're able to carry it forward after you're done with school. Havens like that are important for urban kids, including ones who aren't into sports. Have you ever seen all the Price Hill kids who spend their afternoons scrambling around the leafy refuge of the Imago Earth Center?
ReplyDeleteLast time I was in the kids' wing of the downtown library, I happened upon an afternoon of kids' reading practice with a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Stella. (and the kind librarian let me sit in on the sessions with my sketch pad, so that I could write about it on my blog: http://sentientcincinnati.com/2009/03/14/former-prize-dog-lends-her-ear-to-young-readers).
I thought of this when you mentioned reading practice: for kids who are bashful or behind the curve in reading, it can be wonderfully liberating to read to a dog! Something to work into your blueprints, perhaps..?
Best of luck with your thesis!
This caught me off guard, this project looked strangely familiar. In spring of '08 my architecture studio worked on a housing project in this same building. The goals were to achieve a LEED rating and the historic preservation credit at the same time. Credit goes to Zach Fein for getting the documents online:
ReplyDeletehttp://zfein.com/architecture/otr/ProcessBook.pdf
I have no idea if this helps at all, something to look at I guess.
A lot of what we did revolved around bringing more light and fresh air into the space. The south wall really needs some work, the 2 horrible "bubble windows" suck. And with the luxury of having no building on that side take advantage of letting some light in. We really loved the skylights and definitely emphasized their importance, again bringing light into such a deep space.
Also I believe there is a heavy duty elevator on the back wall, way to large to be useful in a library (think it was used for hauling cars around when it was a maintenance garage, could be wrong). Maybe preserving the elevator shaft for a unique reading nook is an option? Or a triple height atrium space? We also liked the massive elevator door on the rollers, could manifest itself as moveable partitions, screening off a conference room or group space...
The horse ramp is a great character item but we struggled to use it meaningfully. I think the ideal would have been to make some sort of glass ramp/stair over it to keep the visual connection and make use of the opening already present. The exposed brick is another great feature that we maintained but with the environmental aspects being a driver of the studio, another example of LEED being shoved down our throats..., the brick sucks from a thermal standpoint, then again so do the original windows.
It looks like you are using the empty site next door for a reading courtyard? Excellent idea I think, needs some more definition on the plans.
Don't know if you've considered this but the roof is pretty flat and has some spectacular views of OTR and beyond. A rooftop reading area could be worth exploration (wind and egress could create some problems...).
I really like the idea of programming the floors around the different types of readers at your library. The storytelling area on the first floor is really strong. Since I see myself as the individual kind of reader I'm looking for more unique nooks on the third floor, probably near a window.
Also keeping the original garage doors excites me. I could see a big community event where they just throw open the doors, that much of an opening blurs the indoor/outdoor line. On that first floor I'm glad to see some warm materials in your rendering, the alternating floor pattern looks promising.
It may not be one of your goals but the summary for our studio was that with little effort a LEED Silver rating could be reached, OTR has so many great aspects that make it easy. This was with the old LEED guidelines, would need to be looked at again with 3.0. From a preservation point, keeping the original windows, exposed brick, ramp, and hightlighting the unique structure (structural brick walls, reinforced concrete, and wood) were key to achieving the tax credit.
The elimination of the computer in your library is such an intriguing idea. So much of what we do now revolves around the digital connection, it seems libraries now have to trick patrons into actually reading their books with their movie sections, computer labs, coffee bars, etc... I think it's key that developing readers get attached to books from the get go. Such an easy medium to understand and creates a physical connection that computers don't have. Stick with this, its key.
Well I think that's a lot to consider but I hope you are having fun with this project. I like where its headed.
Your project is off to a great start! Certainly makes me think something like this really should be done in OTR. Maybe someone will pick up on it. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI love that you're working with this site and this idea, and I can't wait to see your progress. Your current logo seems, to me, a bit dreary and not all that kid-friendly. I don't mean that it has to be primaryc-colored or drawn in crayon, but I think it should be more vibrant and active, and better represent the kid-specific excitement to be found in the space.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for all your input!!
ReplyDelete@Jason - I actually worked with Chad Edwards, who tipped me off to the building. Zach and I have talked about the space, and I have all the information you guys submitted for the project (which was such a HUGE help.) having another take on the solutions you came up with really helps me to think about the space.
I'm taking the horse ramps and repurposing them into new stair/ramp things.
I will definitely be adding new windows, and will have more time to develop individual reading spaces. As a child I was definitely drawn to book nooks too :)
@maya/visuallingual: Thanks for your opinion on my logo. I'm trying to pay homage to the Cincinnati Public Library, because this library will be part of the system. I agree that it could use some more liveliness to it. We'll see how that manifests itself!