Inside the box

The second assignment for the UNAM Biblioteca project has focused on taking the volume containing the library stacks and imagine it as a "container" or cover if you will for the building. Just as a book cannot be judged by its cover, neither can a building. The assignment was to take this understanding graphically that can be seen in the buildings facade and interpret what "potentially happens inside the volume: not necessarily what exists...but what could exist within it.
My interpretation of O'Gorman's facades above is that the four "containing" walls of the building are a harnessing power over the architectural elements (floors, walls, etc) on the interior and the intellectual elements (books, students, etc). This brought me to develop three conceptual model of the space that is found beyond the walls of the exterior.

The concept of all three models, made so far, is that the building is a shell - harnessing the power(s) from within the building as its knowledge is waiting to be released out.


The first model uses flat floor slabs with protruding and piercing structural elements to be contained within the mural walls of the library. I found this version to be in a very static state and that it was not clearly portraying my concept of this "explosion" of elements that would be found if the walls lifted away.



The second model (above) uses the actual floor plates to create the kinetic motion within the library. Each slab element is in "motion", moving throughout the spaces of the library generating volumes through their penetrations and enclosures. This model was a bit extreme and a little less functional for the programmatic requirements of a library space.


The third model (above) incorporates a blend of the two previous models to create something of a
morphological model in transition between static floor slabs and kinetic moving plates. It exemplifies my concept to its best ability at this point in time. Still much work to be done, but we're getting there...