At the beginning of this project, I had a bookshelf cut into a cement block only available to the first years. It was going to be filled with books chosen by the college’s professors to create a more personal connection between the students and the teachers. With an area below filled with folders for students to share, save, and collect their work over the year.
As the project progressed my original idea morphed into a different site and plan, but the same idea as to be hidden within the architecture building and can only be found if someone stumbles upon it or searching for it. The light played a huge role in my original design and that was carried through as a huge component for our final design. Also the use of the site was a huge deal in the sense that we tried to use subtle nuances found in the site and to be translated into the design. In both my original design and final the idea of camouflaging it, and making it seem like the bookshelf wasn’t added but meant to be there.
Of course there were a lot of changes from my original design to the final. Instead of hundreds of books it was narrowed down to one, with a distinct script that needed to be followed. The ideas drawn from the book include mystery and journey. The journey of the man in the book was through a jungle hiding and maneuvering himself in order to not get hunted and killed by a rich Russian aristocrat. Relaying that idea, we used three sides of the four-sided bookshelf. Two sides have simple slits, one side more then the other, matching the lines created by the rails. They are covered by frosted plexi-glass in order to create that sense of suspense, making people walk around the bookshelf trying to figure out this mystery that is before them.
Realizing there is a small box on the side made of different material, that when pushed pops open revealing The Most Dangerous Game.
The study of light, material, and journey was a huge aspect through our process of building this bookshelf and is an integral part in making this design worthwhile.
Same with the last project, Arch 122 made a video that went along with the building of this bookshelf. This documentary is about what Architecture students say during the duration of a project from design, to construction, and ending with the final.