Design Proposal: Little Free Library for the Wexner Center of Arts
Team: Kaitlyn Smith, Karam Ramadam, Samantha Gaerke
A Little Free Library is a free book-sharing box where anyone may take a book or share a book. They function on the honor system. You do not need to share a book in order to take one. If you take a book or two from a little library, try to bring some to share to that same library, or another in your area, when you can.
Spatial Analysis: 4 Layer Concepts (completed by Kaitlyn Smith)
Focusing on the courtyard between Mershon Auditorium and Sullivant Hall on the edge of the Wexner Center for the Arts, the library needed to fit the space and needs of the users. Utilizing the spirit of the place, we came up with a tower design for a library paired with 3 sets of modular seats. These seats could be moved around the space to add a purpose to the area, making it a space to stay and sit rather than to simply walk through on the way to or from campus.
Service model (completed by Kaitlyn Smith)
Concept Sketches:
Early concepts focused on designs that drew passerby's in to observe the library. They drew inspiration from the surrounding architecture and utilized adequate storage and seating to immerse the design into the space.
(Sketches 4, 5 and 7 completed by Kaitlyn Smith)
Modular Seating:
Our final design seating consists of a central table with a bookshelf, 2 "L" shaped benches and 2 singular seats that can be moved about the space. They all have handles for ease of movement. The only exception here is the "L" shaped seat that is made purposefully too large to move at any great lengths. This nudges the users to keep most of the seating in one general area. By doing this, users feel as though they have great freedom to move, but will not take too many liberties allowing those that maintain the space to do so.
Full Scale Dimension Testing:
(Completed by Kaitlyn Smith and Karam Ramadan)
Final Dimensions:
Library Tower:
The main element of our library system is a tower mimicking the tower of the Wexner Center of the Arts. This is where the majority of the books live. It is complete with a stained glass roof and a draining system in case of rain.
