Baltimore Public Library
Critic: Jeana Ripple
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Area: 25,700sf | 2,380sm
Term: Spring 2017
Critic: Jeana Ripple
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Area: 25,700sf | 2,380sm
Term: Spring 2017
The library is a program where, in the digital contemporary society, it is as essential to provide space which support the neighborhood and city as it is to provide space to house analog media.
The Federal Hill neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland is a primarily residential area surrounded by a perimeter of key urban programs including a market, schools, and an under-supported tech hub. The neighborhood lacks indoor and outdoor flexible spaces where the residents and local stakeholders can mix and share resources.
The concept for this project is to create a meeting point for the community by wrapping up support spaces for each of the key local programs in the neighborhood. This concrete shell houses lecture and exhibition spaces, indoor and outdoor meeting spaces, a cafe and garden, and the traditional stacks. As the library continues into a more digital realm, the stacks can be moved or removed to provide more flexibility.
The series of forms matches the widths of nearby rowhouses and breaks to provide outdoor spaces on different levels, skylights, and views to the street. The facade continues the wrapping concept providing a purity along the perimeter of each of the unique forms. In section, each form rotates and integrates areas of open versus closed, programmed versus flexible, and connected versus disconnected spaces.
The Federal Hill neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland is a primarily residential area surrounded by a perimeter of key urban programs including a market, schools, and an under-supported tech hub. The neighborhood lacks indoor and outdoor flexible spaces where the residents and local stakeholders can mix and share resources.
The concept for this project is to create a meeting point for the community by wrapping up support spaces for each of the key local programs in the neighborhood. This concrete shell houses lecture and exhibition spaces, indoor and outdoor meeting spaces, a cafe and garden, and the traditional stacks. As the library continues into a more digital realm, the stacks can be moved or removed to provide more flexibility.
The series of forms matches the widths of nearby rowhouses and breaks to provide outdoor spaces on different levels, skylights, and views to the street. The facade continues the wrapping concept providing a purity along the perimeter of each of the unique forms. In section, each form rotates and integrates areas of open versus closed, programmed versus flexible, and connected versus disconnected spaces.
