Daegu Gosan Public Library

Following Deagu’s goal of developing a knowledge-based economy, the new open and interactive library is a model for future branch libraries that serve their communities as the starting point for life’s journeys. The library is a social condenser for Daegu, a welcoming place for old and young alike that liberates the mind, breaks down social hierarchies and engenders new social relationships while cultivating new talents. The library is a space for access to information and sharing ideas. The new, intelligent library is a center for information, life-long education, leisure, social and cultural activities. The building forms a vertical continuation of the street and the adjacent park up above the city. The connection to the park is essential – the park is a leisure and social center for the neighborhood and the library, in addition to it’s role as an information hub, is simply an extension of the city. 

We propose to combine all public areas into a single, continuous space connecting all aspects of the building program. The divisions between required areas of the program (reading room, life-long learning center, children’s library, multi-purpose room) are blurred to encourage patrons of each area to mingle with one another. The multipurpose space is directly inside the main entrance. Here, tiered seating is regularly open for casual reading and socializing with a view out to the park, but when a lecture or film is scheduled, walls and curtains emerge to close the space off from the casual circulation of library patrons. At the center of the spiral is the vertical Media Core with open storage for books as well as docking stations for digital devices. Believing in the ubiquity of information, we propose the “information services” functions be decentralized as well. Information staff would not be based behind a central check out desk but instead would roam the entire facility.