The Virtual Library
The concept of a library is quickly falling into decline, the majority of the younger generation are no longer interested in books due to the immense uprising of technology in the past 20 years. I decided that my building needed to banish this stigma, but the question then was how do I do that? I needed to create a concept that was fascinating enough that people of all ages would not realise that they were actually learning. Augmented Reality (AR) is the concept I chose, with this, I aim to combine technology with education, bringing new life to the concept of a library and learning in general. With this ideology, I hope that it will bring together every generation of Todmorden and hopefully even the older generation will be intrigued. However, if this is not the case or someone would just like specifically search for a book, then they are free to explore the standard library on the upper floor of the building.
Throughout the design process, maintaining the continuity of Todmorden was key to me. I wanted to create a building that not only merges with the surrounding environment but in no way would it overpower the existing buildings either, particularly the Town Hall, as this is a focal point for the town. Choosing to recycle the existing sites sandstone for the majority of the my building really supported this decision, it also aided my environmental standpoint as this allowed for the emissions from transportation to be drastically reduced.
