In its website, the American Library Association affirms that a library of visual & performing arts is a valuable & powerful asset to have. Yet, very few such libraries exist across the world. Furthermore, the word ‘library’ has always been associated with the image of a silent space populated by rows & rows of books. But do people even read anymore? Should books be the only means to gain insight into the world surrounding us or transport us to an alien world? Before the first books were written & circulated, powerful sensory tools such as painting, storytelling, dance & music had already established themselves as modes of personal and collective expression. Today, photography, film & virtual reality have added substantially to this gamut of tools and these forms of expressions beg to be catalogued in their own unique way to be preserved for future access and reference. It is in this context that the program for a Library of Arts has been conceptualized.
In this studio, students will design a Community Library to catalogue and house works of visual & performing arts while also hosting workshops and offering a venue for public gathering. Just as art starts from within and spills out into the world, the design approach would be to start from the Inside and spill into the Outside.
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