Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 236-248).

The hybrid nature of the building's program became the central idea behind the design of the project. The combination of office, retail and library funcions was an attempt to investigate the possibility of integrating a public amenity space directly within a private building. The implication of such a collision of uses was not only the potential for public cost savings and the promotion of public construction, but as well a possibility of the creation of a symbiotic relationship between these two forces. The private spaces of the building could make use of some of the public, while the public spaces could make use of some of the private. The project took on a diagramatic and absract nature early on, detatched architecturally somewhat from surrounding site conditions in order to investigate the possibilities of connecting and overlapping the building's public and private uses. An early series of diagrams and sectional sketches began to shape the building in its beginning. The three major elements of the program (office, library and retail) were initially separated vertically in space. The retail occupied the ground floor, the library the second, and the offices the final and third. However, the idea of interrelation of the spaces required a greater extent of overlapping and mixture. Thus, the strategy of a split-level shceme started to emerge. The three separations remained somewhat intact, however separated by intermittent split levels. These split levels contained spaces which could relate to either the floor directly above or below. The idea was that these 'shared' spaces could contain elements of the program which could be used by both library and retail, or by both office and library. The net result was a 'saving' of space, as well as a mixing of public and private functions. Yet, with the mixing of public and private uses came the architectural issue of building security. How could a public book enter and leave a retail store? How could a private office be contained from public access? Would the separate retail units truly relate with the library space? Were there more possibilies for more double uses? The library took on the role of both public amenity and private retail enterprise at this point in the project. The move seemed to satisfy both issues of security and interrelationship between public and private functions. The security system of the library would double as the cash desk; the library stacks would contain both borrowable books and commercial retail goods for consumption; the seating for the library would also provide for the in-house cafe-bar; library staff would also function as staff for the shared smaller offices on the second floor. In this sense, the combination of private and public functions not only reduced the need for excess (publically funded) space, but aslo presented the idea of a saving of maintenance and operational costs. The location of the building in Whistler village was done for two main reasons: the town, at present, is currently without a permanent library for a rapidly growing full-time population; and the town, as a resort municipality, relies heavily on its commercial activity in order to energize its main, public pedestrian outdoor mall. The specific site of the building was a point in the village which related both directly to this pedestrian mall as well as an adjacent shopping centre, intended for the vehicular traffic and use of the more full-time residents of Whistler Village. Here the full time residents coming in to use the library could perhaps discover its second commercial nature, while tourists may make use of the public use of the building while going in soley to shop. The building would then be a place where both full-time residents and incidental tourists could both come, interacting within the same building for an array of different reasons. Architecturally, the building was a modest success: the issue of security had been adressed and overlapping of private and public functions was explored in the building. However, the notion that a library would become a highly commercial retailer still seemed improbable; even in an age of decreasing government spending and reliance upon the private sector for public services, the difficulty in motivating a traditionally public sector into an entrepreneurially self-sustaining enterprise prevented the likelihood of its construction. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate

The usage of the paired terms of denotation and connotation are one means by which language provides for the declarative knowing of all things; denotation is a naming by means of indication, whereas connotation is that which incites the specificity of meaning to a particular thing. Where the denotative assumes a recessive posturing of a formal ambiguity, the connotative proceeds towards a greater clarity with the intention of potential certainty and separateness in meaning. In the same manner as with language, the denotative in architecture responds to the elemental analogue operatively as a background within a field of signification, whereas the connotative responds to the elemental analogue exemplifying an objectification through categorical distinction. The use of the term denotation as the title of this exploration is to instate the accompanying text within the resonance of the denotative background in an attempt to circumvent a connotative, architectural objectification, at times operating under the guise of evidential justification. This circumvention, by means of the denotative positioning, is not meant as a vindication of the architectural object; rather, it is meant as a critique of the autonomy of the object and the foreground that it inhabits. This use of denotative background (not as a dialectical or teleological response to the connotative object) is to provide for an ungrounding in the work to the primacy of object as architectural edification. / Master of Architecture

τὸ γὰρ αὐτὸ νοεῖν ἐστίν τε καὶ εἶναι ...for it is the same, to think as it is to be. Parmenides, fragment 3 These pages are a presentation of an architectural activity. It is the activity of the architectural sketch. By architectural sketch, I mean free hand drawing. Primarily, this is a presentation of the sketch as a generator of form and idea. With intent to clarify this activity, this way of thinking and working, there are also several short essays on the sketch. These essays will discuss certain aspects of the sketch which are intellectually intriguing (food for thought) and relevant to the fundamental question: what is it to sketch? A few supplementary questions posited at this point will help direct the viewing (IΔ) of the sketches and also serve as a background for the subsequent discussion. 1) Of what importance is the sketch? 2) What is the activity of the sketch? 3) How does the sketch differ from other ways of drawing? 4) What is the relationship between drawing and seeing? And thinking? 5) What is revealed (unconcealed) in the sketch? 6) Is there an aesthetics of the sketch? Secondly, this is an architectural project, a masters thesis. It is a library project for an academic environment. Inherent in the sketches is a movement of form and idea (εἶδoς). This movement in the sketches lead to the architectural pieces which become the library. The question then becomes how to order the pieces, how to situate them with respect to one another. Through a study of geometry, proportion, and regulating lines the pieces are brought together into a rational order, that is, made intelligible to the mind. This ordering elevates the pieces which have been formed by the sketch to another level. A series of studies on regulating lines will be presented as well as some hard-line drawings of the pieces and the library. / Master of Architecture

This thesis is the study of a library as a temple. It is a search for meaning in architecture through material, form and the idea of a sacred place. / Master of Architecture

This was a project undertaken to express my desire for a return to the libraries of grand reading rooms. lt was as well a project to try my hand at juxtaposing large masonry piers or walls with light steel trusses. In retrospect, though these two ideas remained my motivating forces, it became a project by which to begin to understand the difference between a well defined idea and willfulness. / Master of Architecture

The two libraries and studies that follow are the products of an exploration into the problematic relation of man to nature. The work specifically examines the fact that while we are unquestionably a part of nature we are, at the same time, separated from it by our self-awareness. We exist as both symbolic and physical beings. As Christian Norberg-Schulz notes, we are precariously situated between the earth and the sky. Focusing on the fundamental elements of light and shadow, the projects explore the issues of separation and inclusion. It is hoped that a glimpse of the innate terror, wonder and beauty of our daily existence may be revealed. The work deals specifically with the making of layers and edges while accentuating spatial flow and continuity. The desire is to bring the library patron into close contact with nature while simultaneously emphasizing a profound separation. Complementary to this is an interest in highlighting a perception of leaving and returning. Reading involves leaving one's present awareness in order to pursue another that is revealed through the pages of a book. One may gain a new perspective on the world through one's literary ventures. Regardless, however, of the distance one may symbolically travel one must always return to the immediacy of one's present situation. Seemingly endless possibility is balanced by the confinement imposed by one's own mortality. In each project the visitor moves through layers of light and space, crossing a small, enclosed courtyard before reaching the main body of the library. Once inside, he regains a view of the courtyard as he sits down by the window to read. By emphasizing distance through layering, the visitor is withdrawn from the hectic cityscape and focused on the subtle interplay of light and shadow on simple concrete walls and on the fluttering leaves and branches of a tree. It is hoped that by withdrawing the visitor from the city and reminding him of his peculiar relation to nature he may renew his awareness of the human condition. / Master of Architecture

This project arises as a result of carefully considered variations on themes of an established model. The thesis uses Michelangelo’s Biblioteca Laurentiana as the basis for a new library in New York City. This use of an historical precedent can be seen as the desire for continuity, and as an expression of a belief in the themes of recurrence and constancy in history. / Master of Architecture

Zhong Jing. / "Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 2010-2011, design report." / Includes bibliographical references. / Thesis Inception --- p.P1 / Case Study --- p.P8 / Topographical Analysis --- p.P17 / Program --- p.P27 / Initial Design --- p.P35 / Special Study --- p.P45 / Architectural Design --- p.P49

Yu Pik Ki Peggy. / "Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 1996-97, design report." / Includes bibliographical references (leave [55]). / Synopsis / Existing State / Chapter 1 --- program brief / Chapter 1.1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- background --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Client Profile --- p.3-5 / Chapter 1.4 --- Program Requirements of Hong Kong Central Library --- p.6-10 / Chapter 2 --- Site Analysis / Chapter 2.1 --- Site Selection --- p.11-15 / Chapter 2.2 --- Site background --- p.16 / Chapter 2.3 --- Physical Conditions --- p.17 / Chapter 2.4 --- Site Context --- p.18-19 / Chapter 2.5 --- Site Information --- p.20-24 / Chapter 2.6 --- Site Analysis Conclusion --- p.25-26 / Future state / Chapter 3 --- design brief / Chapter 3.1 --- Mission Statement --- p.27-28 / Chapter 3.2 --- Outline of Planning Facilities --- p.29-30 / Chapter 3.3 --- Planning Strategy --- p.31 / Chapter 3.4 --- Concepts --- p.32-33 / Chapter 4 --- Conclusion / Appendix / Chapter 5 --- Precedent studies / Chapter 5.1 --- Cranfield University Library --- p.35 / Chapter 5.2 --- "Central Library, Phoenix" --- p.36 / Chapter 5.3 --- "Library and art gallery, France" --- p.37 / Chapter 5.4 --- "Pompidou Center, Paris, France" --- p.38 / Chapter 6 --- Research / Chapter 6.1 --- Library Planning & Organization --- p.39-40 / Chapter 6.2 --- Operations Pattern in Library --- p.41 / Chapter 6.3 --- Automatic Conveyance System --- p.42 / Chapter 6.4 --- Other Design Considerations --- p.43-46 / Chapter 6.5 --- Climatic Control --- p.47 / design / Chapter 7 --- Preliminary Design / Chapter 7.1 --- Site Plan --- p.48 / Chapter 7.2 --- Site Section --- p.49 / Chapter 7.3 --- Section --- p.50 / Chapter 7.4 --- Ground Level --- p.51 / Chapter 7.5 --- Information Center --- p.52 / Chapter 7.6 --- Library Services --- p.53 / Chapter 7.7 --- Open Stacks --- p.54 / Acknowledgments / Biblography