A RELIQUARY FOR
QUEER NARRATIVE
NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY BRANCH 2021
SOHO, NEW YORK, USA 40.7246ºN, 74.0019ºW
Proposal for a branch of the NYC Public Library dedicated to printed works (literary, zine, and otherwise) by queer authors. This project looks at library as a space of community that is entirely public but allows individual moments of intimacy. Comprised of two systems:
CLT fins which span the entire vertical length of the building and provide structural support are calibrated, cut, and shifted to allow for programme and passage between.
Distinct vessels are held within the fins and invite moments of pause and reflection. As they themselves are held, they hold within them both readable material and the act of reading itself.
PLAN SET | 1/8"=1'-0"
PROJECTED ISOMETRIC | 1/8"=1'-0"
LONGITUDINAL SECTION | 1/4"=1'-0"
DETAIL TRANSVERSE SECTION | 1/2"=1'-0"
MODEL ENTRY DETAIL
PROCESS
Working to gain tacit knowledge of the work in progress. Uninhibited by overthinking, the hands can learn through doing. Process involves iterations where the body and work are in conversation. As the hands shift, fold, and alter the material, the material speaks back. After generating a critical mass of work, it an be read and understood. What it is trying to say? What does it want to be? Thus, learning through rigorous, iterative play solves the blank page problem.
