Flap / Library

Columbia GSAPP
Critic: Jose Araguez
Spring 2017


This project explores the library as knowledge infrastructure. By creating a form-program relationship able to house a set of diverse human activities, this library prepares for society’s rapidly changing relationship with information. In manipulating the proportions of the conventional “ramp”, the library redefines the ramp as “flap,” an architectural element able to house circulation and program, while equally performing as spatial structure.

Subsequently, the flap performs in three ways. First, it delineates and articulates pace on each individual floor-plate, specific to the space’s program. Second, it injects program into a space from the floors above and below, creating a form-program flow as one circulates throughout the building. This condition creates a blur in programmatic spaces in section, allowing a continuous connection of information between floors. Last, it provides a scaffolding for the functional needs of the library, such as circulation, utility, and services. In essence, the structural organization establishes local relationships while preserving continuous spatial connections.