Designing Public Libraries as Unique and Vital Public Spaces

Designing Public Libraries as Unique and Vital Public Spaces

Stan Skrzeszewski, Principal, ASM ConsultantsJohn Knox, Vice President, Chamberlain Architect Services LimitedAnne Marie Madziak, Consultant, Southern Ontario Library Service

Feb. 3, 2005

Feb. 3, 2005 OLA 2005 Super Conference

Stan Skrzeszewski PrincipalASM Consultants


Congratulations!Congratulations!

Today is your day.Today is your day.

You're off to Great Places!You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away!You're off and away!

Somehow you'll escapeSomehow you'll escape

all that waiting and staying.all that waiting and staying.

You'll find the bright placesYou'll find the bright places

where Boom Bands are where Boom Bands are playing.playing.

Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!


John KnoxVice PresidentChamberlain Architect Services Limited


The Role of the Library

The heart of a community Strong, vital presence within a communityRole unchanged over the years - Provides free, unlimited access to knowledge, culture, and informationEven more important now than ever before


What creates a vital public space?

Usage! What fosters Usage? A welcoming environment Interesting Programs A vibrant atmosphere A sense of

belonging/ownership A sense of pride


Environment – a sense of Place not just a Design.


Exterior Easy Access by car, public

transit, or on foot Parking Lot

Available parking Well lit and secure Relatively close distance

to/from entrance/exit Design Elements – Unique,

Appropriate in Style, Inviting.


Interior Clear wayfinding Early opportunity to be

greeted by staff Efficient circulation

flow/Effective relationships between program areas

Comfortable seating Appropriate light levels Planned interaction between

retail and activities Design Elements –

appropriate to programs


To Create Vital Public Space …

Listen, Learn, Lead. We: Have no preconceived notions Respond to each point raised at

public meetings And quite often, revise design

decisions based on validated and approved requests


To Create Vital Public Space …

Keep the layout flexible so it supports a variety of programs

Provide adequate, functional space for staff/storage


Listening, Learning …..

Needs AssessmentFeasibility StudiesReports/Drawings Building Committee/

Stakeholder/Public Meetings

Explore the community

Speak with Library Staff


Belonging/Ownership

Involvement in the process Incorporating donated material, services, equipment Give local trades the opportunity to bid on the work


Belonging/Ownership

Encourage sponsorships of events/volunteers Encourage use by Community Groups/Local Businesses Donors’ plaques


A sense of Pride ….

Incorporate elements of history and culture Create a unique facility with some “WOW” Factor - Details, Views Create a neighbourhood/ community landmark








Anne Marie MadziakConsultantSouthern Ontario Library System


Placemaking: designing a building or area to make it more attractive to and compatible with the people who use it;

planning rooted in the belief that people gravitate to public spaces that convey a sense of place, and the people who use a place are the ones best-suited to shape its design, uses, and activities.




Third places: the public places on neutral ground where people can gather and interact.


Ray OldenburgInformal gathering places serve to:

Make citizens feel at home, a sense of belongingNourish relationships and a diversity of human contact; sociability instead of isolationCreate a sense of place and communityInvoke a sense of civic pride (lower crime)Offer sanctuary, a place to relax and unwindMake life more colorfulEnrich public life and democracy


Ray OldenburgSuccessful third

places are:Free or inexpensiveHighly accessible to neighbourhoodsWell situatedWelcoming and comfortableConducive to conversation


Christopher AlexanderDescribes the quality

without a name as being: Alive Whole (free of inner

contradictions) Comfortable Free Exact (responding to

external forces) Egoless Eternal


“Everyone knows how beautiful a room is when it has a bay window in it, or a window seat, or a special ledge next to the window, or a small alcove which is entirely glassed. The feeling that rooms with these kinds of places in them are especially beautiful is not merely whimsy. It has a fundamental organic reason behind it.”

Christopher Alexander


William H. Whyte Identified a number of common

characteristics in vibrant public places: Sitting space – choice/ variety/ flexible Sun, wind, trees and water Food Street Triangulation


Triangulation: the strategy of developing layered, complementary uses in a public space for purposes of creating a convergence of activity


William H. Whyte

“Supply creates demand. A good new space builds a new constituency. It stimulates people into new habits … and provides new paths to and from work, new places to pause!”


“Because people enjoy being there, they plant flowers there, and look after them; they keep the garden furniture painted; and even if you go there when no one else is there, you ‘feel’ the presence of life there, because you can sense that people are taking care of it.”

Christopher Alexander


Roberta Brandes Gratz

“The direction from which a community attacks the issues and the problems does not matter. Everything is connected. Any one piece of the puzzle leads to the next. A farmer’s market or a traffic problem may be the first piece. A battle to keep open a library or an effort to revive an open space may start things going. A fight against a proposed superstore can be the catalyst for renewing downtown … all the threads of the downtown fabric are connected.”


Project for Public Spaces website - www.pps.org


New York Public Library “Inside, the Library boasts

a gorgeous reading room that would make anyone feel like royalty … But out in the front, along the street, is where this illustrious institution truly connects with the city around it. A series of well-linked spaces – steps, plazas, little nooks and pathways – provide innumerable places for sitting, meeting, eating and chatting.”


Documents

Designing Public Libraries as Unique and Vital Public Spaces