Thesis Defence: Katelynn Black

Monday, May 16, 2016 1:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

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.

The examining committee is as follows:
 

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.