senseable city lab

The real-time city is now real! The increasing deployment of sensors and hand-held electronics in recent years is allowing a new approach to the study of the built environment. The way we describe and understand cities is being radically transformed - alongside the tools we use to design them and impact on their physical structure. Studying these changes from a critical point of view and anticipating them is the goal of the SENSEable City Laboratory, a new research initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
http://senseable.mit.edu/

thought for the day. .

a place that encompasses the whole life cycle of a book from its conception to its death, the living library will contain a publishing house, specialist archive storage for first edition and of course a library for childrens literature.

in the coming weeks I hope to visit 'seven stories' in newcastle which is the national centre for childrens books, this should hopefully give me an insight into how it is possible for architecture to stimulate children.

Taking its name from the idea that there are seven basic stories but thousands of ways of telling them, Seven Stories celebrates the work of children’s writers and illustrators.

The UK’s only dedicated exhibition space to children’s literature is located in a previously redundant Grade II listed mill, nestling between railway viaducts and until now a neglected river in Ouseburn Valley, Newcastle. The attraction incorporates art commissions, one of which was developed in conjunction with children from nine local schools – The Voyage, a floating boat sculpture moored on the Ouseburn outside the Seven Stories building.

image and italic text pasted from http://www.rics.org/Newsroom/Keyissues/RICSAwards/International/awards_sevenstoriesthecentreforchildrensbooks02062006.htm

on another note. .

precedent - bishan community library

For easy navigation and user orientation, the library is separated into distinct zones e.g. collection / program, services and circulation. The constant dialectic interplay of active/passive, quiet/noisy, bright/shaded between the different zones brings vibrancy to the library.

The parti formed an effective structural strategy, concentrating the structural supports onto the sides of the building allows for a huge expanse of column free space in the centre to cater for the main activities of the library. The various building services required by the library are concentrated in the core along CPF Building while the opposite end houses a tall atrium space which acts as the entrance space to the library.

Library plays an important role within the community. Thats why they had need to rethink the role of the library as the traditional repository of knowledge, the more pertinent issue at hand were how to engage the people. This is especially relevant for community libraries where the library shares an intricate relationship with the community, transcending the traditional boundaries of education, information and recreation.

http://cubeme.com/blog/2008/01/30/bishan-community-library-by-look-architects/

precedent - childrens paper chair

http://www.thecoolhunter.co.uk/kids/CHILDRENS-PAPER-CHAIR/

precedent - unknown

Traditionally, libraries also suffer from an image problem. Hordes of books coupled with the 'sshhhh' factor doesn't make for a very cool environment. By installing colorful interiors such as oversized book sleeves, a learning space such as the library is transformed into an area which kids see as cool, and therefore are inspired to read and learn.

precedent - pontificial lateral university library, italy

The building is an extension of the existing library at the Pontificial Lateran University, which houses new reading rooms and an Auditorium. Designed by Rome firm King Roselli the building features not usually seen in these types of spaces, such as a curved ceiling, angular stair-casing and vast glass panelling.

The university holds an outstanding collection of books numbering around 600,000 volumes, some of which date back to the 16th century, whose subjects for the most part coincide with the principal academic courses: philosophy, theology and law. The bulk of them are now deposited in the newly restored compartmentalised underground vaults equipped with an adequate fire extinguisher system and humidity and temperature control.

http://www.thecoolhunter.co.uk/architecture/Pontificial-Lateral-University-Library---Italy/

living+library site location

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living+library introduction

living+library - the arthur ransome library for childrens literature.

arthur ransome was born in leeds in 1884. in 1929 he wrote Swallows and Amazons the first of a series of books based on childrens adventures by water, giving him the reputation as one of the best english writers of children's books.

the living+library will explore the roll that architecture plays in stimulating learning in young children through the medium of literature.