What kinds of spaces do we need to exchange ideas in architectural culture? How can we better read and think together in an age where images and texts proliferate online? Using the Pratt School of Architecture as a laboratory in cooperation with the Director of Libraries, our team developed a programming and concept study for reading room options to be installed in Higgins Hall. The study was used for institutional support and fundraising, ultimately leading to the design development phase of the project.

Our school lacks a place for students to read and discuss architectural ideas. By installing a satellite library of physical and digital materials, with seating and a scanning station, we hope to offer students a place to read, study, and discover important buildings, sites, and ideas. The reading room would feature recent issues of key periodicals and new books. Books by faculty members, important small press books, and classics that are assigned frequently in classrooms would be featured.

A relational network diagram formed an idealized master plan for Higgins with the library thought of as a constellation of linked spaces. One space can be developed or sets of spaces to create different scenarios for learning (bookswitch), reading (bookscape) and browsing. The main stair in Higgins South can also support curated lockable shelves adjacent to specific studios as well as study spaces. Designed in collaboration with Meredith TenHoor including research assistants Jake White and Ann Chai.