Branch
This short Call For Ideas was to create a temporary Sunday library on an underutilized parking lot in Fort Greene.
Due to budget cuts, in the first week of 2009 the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) was forced to eliminate its Sunday hours throughout the borough. These cuts came at a time when people increasingly need the library’s free resources. In response, a group of volunteer designers and librarians conceived of Branch, a community design project to engage residents and other stakeholders to develop a temporary library open on Sundays during the hours that the BPL normally would operate.
Branch partnered with the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project, a Fort Greene-based nonprofit community organization, to launch the project on an unused Citibank parking lot on the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Clinton Avenue. Volunteers worked with local stakeholders to design and plan the program and space for a temporary library offering free books and activities.
The competition invited participants to develop concepts for a temporary, outdoor installation to house the functions and program of a library—places to gather, read, browse books, attend events, etc. The goal was for a space that would attract passersby on the busy thoroughfare of Myrtle Avenue, create room for the display of reading material, as well as for multiple program activities, from children’s theater performances to peaceful study/reading.
Downloads
Schedule
September 1 2009
Design workshop
Center for Architecture 7-8pm
536 LaGuardia Pl, NY, NY
September 6 2009
On-site design workshop
430 Myrtle Avenue (at Clinton), Brooklyn, NY 11am-7pm
(rain location: Pillow Café, 505 Myrtle at Ryerson)
September 11, 2009
SUBMISSION DEADLINE
September 13, 2009
Review/display of entries on-site
Sept-Oct
Winners invited to develop projects in
collaboration with neighborhood stakeholders
October 4, 2009
Installation of final project
