Peckham Library

The metric handbook got me looking into The peckham library by William Asop.. an interesting, sculptural building which is still a very simple layout.

He also has designed the university of art and design which has a similar vibe to peckham library but is particularly interesting for me as it is on stilts and sits between buildings. This is a good concept for me.

What do modern libraries need??

I have been doing a lot of reading and researching lately and everything I find insists that libraries are not on the decline despite a lot of suggestions out there saying that they are. It has proven that despite the decline of the physical book, libraries are used more than ever. I know this is true of Parliament House as their annual report indicated that 100% of office members used the library. It all comes down to their supply of technology and information as well as the spaces they provide to go with it. Libraries are now more social than they used to be.. they are no longer used for individual 'quiet' learning. They are rather a more open planned social area that incorporate cafes lots of grouped desks and meeting spaces, as well a large amount of technology to supply the information... there is less emphasis on quiet spaces and these are rather grouped into specific rooms if they are required. I need my project to reflect these changes in the library and information centres. I also found the metric handbook quite useful in describing these changes.

The Peckham Library forms a good precedent as a modern library - it creates various zoning spaces that allow for specific learning requirements.

Architectural Proposal - Project 2

Leading on from the last project I now need to explore further into how integrating 'KIT's (knowledge information and technology) into Parliament House might work. All of the research I have looked at suggests that a great deal of importance lies with locating access to information in a central area. Therefore I need to analyse Parliament House to discover a location that will be central but will not detract from the original building. This is quite a difficult task as most of the centrally located spaces are already utilized for extremely important rooms and spaces that should not be replaced. I have included some of my early sketches and ideas of placement and possible forms to date...

Initial analysis has proven it very difficult to find a central location that is close to all the action within parliament house. I have nominated an area of offices that could be re-designed as the main building location with a canopy that spans off this space into the courtyard spaces surrounding the the main offices. An issue I am battling with this location is that it is off to a side and not central thus favouring one side of Parliament House. However, going more central will require demolitioning important spaces which I do not believe is a good solution.

This sketch was the idea of having a large pod like structure that sat above all the offices but still allowed activity to happen beneath it. I like this idea because it adds an element to parliament house without effecting was is already existing.

This is diagramming and form with thoughts about movement and incorporating Pod type space that serve various office areas and the canopy which aids this movement.

These are just some inspiration canopies that I have found. I particularly like the bottom left image as this canopy attaches to existing structures and creates an interesting form.

I began to explore a geometric pattern for the canopy that could then also form the shapes of the pods below. I have also further explored the idea of an underground storage system which was posted earlier in my blog. I think it could be quite interesting to allow my pods to service both the offices as well as go underground to explore the machine operated storage as an education device - perhaps this could integrate the public??

Perhaps my canopy could bring light to the underground spaces as well as provide energy through solar panels or photovoltaic panels. This would allow for my design to be independent which I  think is important as the information that it contains will always be accessible regardless of any issues that Parliament House may have with electricity etc. Information is the backbone to a working environment and therefore it needs to be constantly accessible.

Researching..

I have come across some parasitic architecture. This could be an interesting concept to use for project 2.. perhaps my new proposal simply clips onto various parts of Parliament House and feeds of the existing infrastructure.. fuel for thought!

Panels and Statement

 

Information Dissemination and Flexible Architecture

We have been assigned to explore the flexible architecture subject in conjuction with Parliament House further. Flexible architecture can be considered something that is an important notion for the furture of design. We live in a world today where there is a lot of pressure on having responsive and adaptive architecture to allow for buildings to cope with all sorts of changes... one of prominence is of course environmental changes but another that we are considering through out this subject is the way that advances in technology and its connection with information and knowledge dissemination are impacting architecture.

Information and knowledge dissemination within Parliament House plays an integral role in its function. Without it it would cease to function at all. Senators' and members' offices, including Minsters' offices all use the information services provided within Parliament House, so therefore it is easy to understand that a successful information, knowledge and research services is integral to Parliament House.

The DPS Annual Report from 2009-2010 found that clients were happy with Parliament House's current info services but nominated a few areas of change:

a) achieving greater consistency and quality of service in responses to individual client requests
b) improving, if possible, the timeliness of Library publications
c) responding more effectively to all three stages of the life cycle of members of parliament - new, medium and long term
d) continuing to improve the resources available to clients at their desktop (or mobile devices)
e) improving the availability of transcripts and broadcast materal; and
f) improving communication mechanisms bearing in mind the pressures on the time of clients.

This shows that Parliament House are feeling the pressures of technological advancements and being able to implement them to help improve their current systems. But how will this effect the architecture of the building.. Will new rooms need to be added or existing ones changing to a new function? How can flexible architecture help to aid these technological advancements?
Obviously due the the changing nature of technological advancements.. one thing is clear... the need for architecture that is flexible enough to be able to cope with changes that will occur throughout the next 100 or so years.

Some exemplars surrounding libraries have been researched as they appear to be at a time of change in the today's world:



Take a look at this website below at: http://kanikasweet-techz.blogspot.com/2011/06/underground-literature-chicagos.html

Underground Literature: Chicago’s Futuristic Robotic Library

'The death of books – and, presumably, libraries – has been predicted by futurists for decades. We certainly seem to be headed that way with e-book readers and digital books taking the place of paper books. A new library facility at the University of Chicago blends the old with the new by replacing librarians and their rickety wooden ladders with a fascinating system of robots and a five-story underground storage facility

In the $81 million Joe and Rika Monsueto Library, patrons walk into a beautiful light-filled room with a domed roof – and a noticeable lack of books. What patrons can’t see is the enormous depository of books just below their feet in the subterranean storage room. The storage area contains around 35,000 metal bins, all filled to capacity with books. The books are put into the bins by size, not by subject, allowing for the maximum amount of useable space in each. When a patron needs a book, they simply request it via computer database. That’s where the robots come in.

Huge robotic retrieval cranes move around among the stacks of bins to select the appropriate book. Because each book and each bin bears a unique bar code, the cranes can go right to the requested bin and deliver it to the circulation desk upstairs. The clerk finds the desired book and delivers it to the requester within about five minutes of the initial request. The underground book room is kept at optimal preservation conditions, meaning that the library will incur lower maintenance costs over the life of the system.'

How can architecture accommodate information dissemination as a network within Parliament House? What elements will be flexible? Will all elements have a flexible nature or will some be static??

Parliament House as a network....

Canberra and Parliament House

'Remember that the traditions of this City will be the traditions of Australia. Let us hope… that here a city may arise where those responsible for the government of this country in the future may seek and find inspiration in its noble buildings, its broad avenues, its shaded parks, and sheltered gardens- a city bearing perhaps some resemblance to the city beautiful of our dreams.'

- Lord Denman, Governor-General of Australia

City Map of Canberra - Walter Burley Griffin
The layout of Canberra has an extremely geometric form with Parliament House forming the centre of the city. Acting as central function of the city with 360 views surrounding it.





The iconic flag post centred in Parliament House


Accessed: http://www.peo.gov.au/students/cl/aph.html


Understanding Parliament...
Parliament House is divided into three main departments:


The Department of the Senate


The Department of the House of Representatives


The Departments of Parliamentary Services


What happens in these departments?? How do they function? Are the integrated together in some ways or operate independently from eachother?


The Parliamentary Education Office describes what the The Departments of the House of Representatives and The Department of the Senate do in a basic summary of Parliament House functions as a whole:


'Parliaments are unique. They are not like office blocks or law courts or convention centres. A parliament must do four basic things and the building must be designed to allow these four things to happen. The members of a parliament must be able to:


1. represent people
2. make laws
3. scrutinise the government
4. form a government from elected parliamentarians.


Australia’s modern Parliament House was planned to facilitate these functions. All four functions of parliament take place in the House of Representatives and Senate chambers as well as other rooms. There are many other activities that take place in the federal Parliament such as radio and television broadcasting and printing reports and other documents.'


So what role does The Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) play?


The DPS provides wide ranging services such as:


management
maintenance and provision of information
security
facilities
visitr
building
maintenance
landscaping
IT network
telecommunications
broadcasting and Hansard services


Essentially the DPS forms the backbone to all Parliamentary function!

A diagrammatic representation:

THE IDEA OF INFORMATION & KNOWLEDGE DISEMMINATION THROUGHOUT PARLIAMENT HOUSE IS AN INTERESTING CONCEPT THAT COULD BE EXPLORED FURTHER....