Vaulted Dialogues- A public library in East Village under Bevel Conflicts

The Virtue of Copies
Rhythmic Repetition & Conflict

From the precedent analysis, we were supposed to find a formal/spatial logic that could dominate the formation of space of the precedent. Through the reinterpretation of the identified logic, I designed a new building that can be applied to one of the three sites in New York with the embedded library program.

In my case, I explore and reinterpret the space of the Vault House, by Johnston Marklee, as generated by a series of vaults connected on one side and consequently formed a datum, while smaller vaults filled the rest of the space. By introducing the conflict of the bevel, I designed a three-story space of vaults following the rule of datum. Two sets of spaces form two series of vaults end to end. The upper and lower levels are book stacks, while the middle level is subdivided into private rooms as well as lecture rooms, while the submerged central court creates a large communal reading space.