The new library of PSU is one that DRAWS students of the institution to it, not because it is “where the books are” but because it is a conducive environment to the many mediums of learning: interaction, reading, and technology.
This modern library is composed of two volumes. The Jackson Street volume houses public programmatic elements such as retail, classrooms, and auditoriums; functions that could occur independently of the library collections. The second volume, for the library collections’ is set upon an urban park capping the 405 freeway.
Vertical stacking of programmatic elements allows the user ease in navigating; atriums and fenestration offer sightlines to guide circulation.
The library unfolds from the ground, creating a pavilion entrance for the most social, celebratory and diverse learning experiences. It provides a flexible space where presentations, lectures, movies, music and food engage a wide range of dynamic users.
It rises again, unfolding like paper pages to create informing floors and walls, and expanding to the other side of the freeway to invite new users into this learning experience. Solid, semi-solid and void purify the air, bring daylight and create spaces where individual and group study will flourish.
The new PSU Library is a key academic building where multidisciplinary learning takes place. The building’s location in between the PSU campus and the West Hill residential neighborhood gives the library a strong civic position that allows it to be an information resource center as well as a community meeting place. The design is based on the concept of Learning in Continuum: three atrium spaces interconnect with book collections, digital resources, group work spaces and individual work spaces creating a transparent and accessible learning experience and actively encouraging people to move through the library as they gain knowledge.
The concept of knowledge within the library is interpreted through daylighting and views. This matrix of knowledge is created by offsetting floor plates to allow directed interior vistas and infiltration of daylight. These views put the network of interconnected activity on display, and create an exterior terracing effect that invites pedestrians inside with glimpses of activity.
The arc of the building form and the interior movement were influenced by the dynamic flow of the surrounding city. Important interior-to-exterior viewpoints of Mount Hood and downtown Portland are framed though large windows, while banding on the facade articulates and reinforces the asymmetrical interior floor plates.
PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY PROPOSITION FOR A NEW LIBRARY
The role of the traditional library must expand to meet the demands of modern, technology hungry students. This new library for Portland State University takes the conventional “box of books” and introduces the contemporary components by literally inserting them into the existing form. The central “technology tower,” which encompasses functions like team meeting spaces, video and audio production, and computer labs, also serves as an orienting device and axis of circulation with stairs ascending on the East and West. By literally spanning the gap between the traditional collections and the production zones every point in the library is interconnected.
The Portland State University Library as an investigation of stratification derived from the notion that knowledge builds upon itself through education and experiences. The building responds to this concept through an exterior that can be identified as transparent with floor plates representing strata. As you enter the building from either corner of Jackson Street a grand double height space is revealed where learning, meeting and exploring can all occur simultaneously. The cohesion of people, spaces, and educational tools, both traditional and technological to sculpt an alternate way to integrate multidisciplinary education. Exterior spaces accommodate a procession that can lead to reflection in the walled mystery garden.
The new library of PSU is one that DRAWS students of the institution to it, not because it is “where the books are” but because it is a conducive environment to the many mediums of learning: interaction, reading, and technology.
ReplyDeleteThis modern library is composed of two volumes.
The Jackson Street volume houses public programmatic elements such as retail, classrooms, and auditoriums; functions that could occur independently of the library collections. The second volume, for the library collections’ is set upon an urban park capping the 405 freeway.
Vertical stacking of programmatic elements allows the user ease in navigating; atriums and fenestration offer sightlines to guide circulation.
THE UNFOLDING LIBRARY
ReplyDeleteThe library unfolds from the ground, creating a pavilion entrance for the most social, celebratory and diverse learning experiences. It provides a flexible space where presentations, lectures, movies, music and food engage a wide range of dynamic users.
It rises again, unfolding like paper pages to create informing floors and walls, and expanding to the other side of the freeway to invite new users into this learning experience. Solid, semi-solid and void purify the air, bring daylight and create spaces where individual and group study will flourish.
LEARNING IN CONTINUUM
ReplyDeleteThe new PSU Library is a key academic building where multidisciplinary learning takes place. The building’s location in between the PSU campus and the West Hill residential neighborhood gives the library a strong civic position that allows it to be an information resource center as well as a community meeting place. The design is based on the concept of Learning in Continuum: three atrium spaces interconnect with book collections, digital resources, group work spaces and individual work spaces creating a transparent and accessible learning experience and actively encouraging people to move through the library as they gain knowledge.
MATRIX OF KNOWLEDGE
ReplyDeleteThe concept of knowledge within the library is interpreted through daylighting and views. This matrix of knowledge is created by offsetting floor plates to allow directed interior vistas and infiltration of daylight. These views put the network of interconnected activity on display, and create an exterior terracing effect that invites pedestrians inside with glimpses of activity.
The arc of the building form and the interior movement were influenced by the dynamic flow of the surrounding city. Important interior-to-exterior viewpoints of Mount Hood and downtown Portland are framed though large windows, while banding on the facade articulates and reinforces the asymmetrical interior floor plates.
PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY
ReplyDeletePROPOSITION FOR A NEW LIBRARY
The role of the traditional library must expand to meet the demands of modern, technology hungry students. This new library for Portland State University takes the conventional “box of books” and introduces the contemporary components by literally inserting them into the existing form. The central “technology tower,” which encompasses functions like team meeting spaces, video and audio production, and computer labs, also serves as an orienting device and axis of circulation with stairs ascending on the East and West. By literally spanning the gap between the traditional collections and the production zones every point in the library is interconnected.
The Portland State University Library as an investigation of stratification derived from the notion that knowledge builds upon itself through education and experiences. The building responds to this concept through an exterior that can be identified as transparent with floor plates representing strata. As you enter the building from either corner of Jackson Street a grand double height space is revealed where learning, meeting and exploring can all occur simultaneously. The cohesion of people, spaces, and educational tools, both traditional and technological to sculpt an alternate way to integrate multidisciplinary education. Exterior spaces accommodate a procession that can lead to reflection in the walled mystery garden.
ReplyDelete