Of
the
thesis
entitled: The
Reading
Garden:
Revitalizing
Andrew Carnegie's
Vision
for
the
Public Library
Abstract:
At
the
turn
of
the
20th
century,
Andrew
Carnegie,
the
richest
man
in
America,
was
transforming
society
through
the
endowment
of
thousands
of
free
public
library
buildings
to
communities
around
the
world.
In doing
this,
he
was
dispelling
the
notion
that
a
library
had
to
be
a
monumental
structure
available
only
to
select
members
of
society
by
developing
a
new
community
library
typology
designed
to
facilitate
the
acquisition
of
knowledge
for
the
common
man.
Each
Carnegie
Library
was
designed
using
a
set
of
parameters
in
which
every
element
of
the
building
was
conscious
of
his
goal
to
make
the
act
of
reading
accessible
for
everyone.
In
its
most
basic
form,
the
architecture
of
the
Carnegie
Library
was
a single
room
dedicated
to
the
sole
purpose
of
reading
books;
a
simple architectural
idea
that
formed
the
standard
for
community
library
design
around
the
world
for
the
better
part
of
the
next
century.
Today,
the
introduction
of
digital
technology
as
a
source
of
information
and
connection
has
transformed
the
world
we
live
in,
leaving
public
institutions,
including
the
Carnegie
Libraries,
pondering
their
urban
relevance.
These
historic
libraries
and
their
purpose
in
providing access
to
knowledge
through
reading
are
slowly
disappearing
behind
the
screens
of
a
digital
society
with
their
very
structures
being
lost
to
the
concrete jungle
of
cities
constantly
striving
to
construct
taller,
more
efficient buildings.
This
thesis
intends
to
study
the
revitalization
of
the
Carnegie
Library as
an
architectural
endeavor,
transforming
these
historic
structures
into enclosed
reading
gardens
within
the
context
of
their
contemporary
urban
settings.
The
building
that
was
the
Carnegie
Library
at
one
time
served
as
a portal
to
a
seemingly
unlimited
source
of
knowledge
through
reading
and
it
is the
intention
of
this
thesis
to
return
those
in
urban
settings
that
have outlived
their
tenure
as
libraries
to
this
purpose
by
transforming
their interiors
in lush
gardens
dedicated
to
the
celebration
of
reading
in
contemporary
society.
Supervisor:
Committee Members:
Robert Jan van Pelt, University of Waterloo
Andrew Levitt, University of Waterloo
Rick Haldenby,
University of
Waterloo
External Reader:
Andrea Hunniford
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Monday
May
16,
2016
1:00PM
ARC
2026
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.