Tag

historic architecture

The Modern Library Is about More Than Books

On
by Deane
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, D.C. Image by Deane Madsen

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, D.C. Image by Deane Madsen

 

As we become increasingly reliant on digital content available on-demand, what happens to our repositories for printed matter? The answer may be simpler than you think: Libraries aren’t just about books any more. Most have shifted focus from their collections to the communities they serve, and adjusted their design to match.

Library-sponsored programs, such as children’s reading hours and job-search assistance sessions, are bolstering each location’s outreach and education efforts. A 2016 library use study from the Pew Research Center indicates an increase in the number of people visiting libraries for educational purposes: 27 percent of library users said they’d attended classes, programs, or lectures at their local institutions, a 10 percent increase over 2015.

A major part of the library’s recalibration as civic anchor comes in the form of reconfigured spaces. In the nation’s capital, as elsewhere, library systems have been improving their physical structures over the last decade to accommodate shifts in usage. Marquee projects by renowned architects have reinvigorated the Washington, DC, Public Library (DCPL) properties, with 15 completed remodels (two of which were designed by the dynamic pairing of Adjaye Associates and the Freelon Group, of National Museum of African American History & Culture fame). Six more facility upgrades are currently on the boards, including a $208 million renovation and addition to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in downtown DC.

 

Read the full story at Topic Architecture. 

Selçuk

On
by Deane Madsen

We started in Selçuk, about an hour’s drive from Izmir, and about 2 km from Ephesus (Efes in Turkish). There we stayed in a pleasant and well-decorated hotel appropriately named Bella. Our first day in Selçuk was devoted to the ruins in Ephesus, followed by lunch, a visit to the local farmer’s market, and the Ephesus museum. Ephesus itself was gorgeous: a whole city of ruins, so that one could easily imagine a thriving metropolis whose denizens were obsessed with going to the gym. Not unlike DC, actually. The museum was somewhat lacking however, seemingly separating statues from their heads in an effort to spread the collection over maximum floor space. We spent the evening drinking tea while watching some people we had met play a tile game, obey 101, which was kind of a cross between mahjong and spades, in the sense that two teams of two used combinations of numbered tiles to form multiple sets of three, although after that the rules quickly became confusing. There was a lot of shouting in Turkish when one player either accidentally or not-so-accidentally was found to have an extra tile at the end of a game. It was confusing, but entertaining, and we’d had too much tea either to make sense of it or get a good night’s rest.

Below are my attempts at a) mapping the city and b) drawing the symbol everpresent in our hotel (I believe called a tughra):