Clintonville Library


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Related people
Aleah Westfall (designer)
Samuel Bonnel-Kangas (designer)
Kyle Clarke (designer)
Jane Murphy (studio professor)
Beth Blostein (studio professor)
Date
Spring 2019
Location
North and Central America->United States->Ohio->Franklin (county)->Columbus->3951 N High St, Columbus, OH 43214
Description
This was a student project by Aleah Westfall, Samuel Bonnel-Kangas. and Kyle Clarke for Jane Murphy and Beth Blostein's course ARCH 7420 in Spring 2019.
As a team we were tasked with designing a library that fits into the criteria of a high res discipline but designed by a low res practice. The discipline is defined by the overall appearance of the building while the practice is the tectonics and form of the building. The first question we asked ourselves was, if we could change the hierarchy of books and people throughout the library? The second question was, can the mundane program of a library (checking out a book and browsing the stacks) become theatrical? The final question was, can a low res building pretend to be a high res building? The overall form of the library is three bars of various scales, smallest for children and the largest bar is for adults. The three bars have their own, independent structure that collides at the intersection of the bars. The structural columns remain dependent on their host bar thus creating faux structure throughout the library which can act as way-finding markers or even become a mechanical cavity. The exterior of the building is surrounded by “billboards” that act as a costume to disguise the simple form on the interior. From the exterior the visitor is left questioning where the library actually ends and begins. On the interior of the library there skylights that act as stage lighting and highlight the various elements of program. The hierarchy of the library switches as you move between the bars, there are moments where the books are on display while other moments it is the people who are on display?

Project Location: 3951 N High St, Columbus, OH 43214
Section/Discipline
Architecture
Degree
Masters
Course
ARCH 7420