Of
the
thesis
entitled: Library:
A
Social
Infrastructure
Abstract:
For
many
centuries, the
mission
of
the
library
as
a
civic
institution
has
been
seen
as
the collection
and
dissemination
of
information.
Likewise,
the
library
typology continuously
responds
to
the
dominant
paradigm
of
information
and communications
technologies. Following
the
digital
revolution
of
the
late twentieth
century,
information
has
been
transcoded
into
electronic
signals, thus
allowing
its
storage
and
distribution
to
take
place
independent
of
time and
space.
Today,
with
access
to
information
so
ubiquitous,
is
the
library
a redundant
place?
In
this thesis,
I
argue
that
by
democratizing
information,
the
library’s
fundamental mission
has
been
overcoming
physical,
social,
and
economic
disconnectedness. The
library,
therefore
remains
to
be
an
essential
civic
institution.
However, despite
making
information more
accessible,
the
digital
revolution
has
produced new
types
of
disconnectedness.
Telecommunication
and
transportation infrastructures
have
accelerated
suburbanization
and
decentralization
of
urban centers.
In
the
current
digital
age,
spaces
of
flow
are
valued
more than
spaces of
place,
resulting
in
a
loss
of
civic
space
and
suppression
of
diversity. Moreover,
the
infinite
and
simultaneous
nature
of
digital
information
has incited
feelings
of
inundation
and
disorientation. To
address
these
new
types
of
disconnectedness, the
library typology
is
compelled
to
recombine
and
calibrate
its
historical traditions
with
a
new
set
of
expectations
in
the
digital
age.
This thesis
is
sited
in
the
suburban
campus
of
Conestoga
College,
which
is
located on
the
border
of
Kitchener
and
Cambridge,
adjacent
to
Highway
401.
The
specific and
universal
disconnectedness
affecting
this
institution
is
investigated
on three
scales:
suburban
city planning,
Conestoga's
campus
master
plan
and
the library's
design.
Informed
by
these
investigations,
I
have
proposed
an alternate
design
for
the
campus
master
plan
and
the
library.
The
library
itself is
a
manifesto
for
embodying
the
static
character
of
containment
and
the dynamic
character
of
flow.
On
a
grander
scale,
by
integrating
the
architecture of
the
library
with
a
bridge
infrastructure,
we
can
expose
the
friction
between the
two
spatial
logics
of
flow
and
place,
and
provoke
a
multitude
of
movements and
exchanges
between
the existing
and
new
programmatic
elements.
This
speculative
intervention
aims
to reinforce
the
agency
of
architecture
to
counterbalance
the
consternations
that are
prevalent
in
the
technocratic
paradigm
of
today.
The examining committee is as follows:
Supervisor:
Anne Bordeleau, University of Waterloo
Committee Members:
Rick Haldenby, University of Waterloo
Lola Sheppard, University of Waterloo
External Reader:
Liana Bresler, SvN Architects + Planners
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Monday
May
15,
2017
6:30
PM
ARC
2026
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.