AIMS

The typology of libraries has transformed substantially over centuries. A range of spatial configurations was developed with numerous instances and adaptations; many have occurred in our own century as the information needs of the modern society evolved.

Today, the library is more than a hushed place of learning. It has become a social place accommodating public activities. New technologies, particularly electronic media, have radically influenced the program and typology of the library. Yet, in spite of social, technological, and material changes, the essence of the library has not changed-it remains a place of learning. Indeed, a review of its typological development reveals consistencies and a diversity that are instructive in projecting the future of the library.

The "Cybrid" Condition

The increasing spatialization of the Internet offers new opportunities to architects. The computer is more than a drafting instrument; it is a device for generating a new symbolic, social environment-cyberspace. Cyberspace can represent information as text, graphics, or objects and environments. It can orient viewers within the information spaces of work and play. They compare-and possibly compete-with the architecture of the physical world.

Libraries, through their expanding use of computers and the Internet, now hover between physical and cyberspaces. As access to cyberspace will increasingly rely on our intuitive understanding of space, our libraries will become spatial hybrids or "cybrids" (Anders) taking full advantage of these modes of existence, capitalizing on their relationship.

The Program

This competition calls for design of a library existing in physical or electronic environments, or in both, as a "cybrid" building. This library will offer many of the experiences and spaces of conventional libraries. Yet designs incorporating cyberspaces will have unique characteristics. As renditions of data, these spaces may not resemble conventional rooms at all. They may offer experiences simply unavailable by any other means.

While the site, physical size and details of the library program are at the discretion of the designer, the minimum programmatic requirements are set. They are based on a conventional library program and may be used to design a physical solution for this competition. Library proposals, intended to be spatial simulations, must justify ways in which their cyberspaces satisfy the program. Similarly, designers submitting "cybrid" libraries must decide which program elements should be physical and which virtual or cybereal. The degree to which the "cybrid" solution is physical is up to the designer.

Submitted proposals must present ways in which users are aware of each other and the spaces they occupy, whether these spaces are physical or electronic. Submissions may reflect aspects of libraries that transcend functional reduction: ritual, presence and community. Each aspect will have its own manifestation in physical and cyberspaces.

Finally, despite appearances, these two modes of space are distinct. Identities, while comparatively stable in reality, can multiply or divide in cyberspace. Space is also experienced differently in each mode. Cyberspace is far more ambiguous and subjective than conventional reality. Physical space is populated by objects, while cyberspace is inhabited with artifacts of media and communication. Designers should acknowledge the differences as well as the similarities of these spaces in their proposals.

The following list of programmatic components is based on a conventional, physical library, and is provided for reference only. Since the size and use of the library is left to the designers, the program is free to interpretation.

• Lobby Area (1,200 sf)
• Circulation Counter (600 sf)
• Information Area (400 sf)
• Reference Area (400 sf)
• Reading Area (2000 sf)
• General Collection (10,000 sf)
• Periodicals (1000 sf)
• Audio and Video (AV) Collection (1,000 sf)
• Childrenps Library (3,000 sf)
• Lecture Auditorium (4,000 sf)
• Café (1,200 sf)
• 3 Meeting Rooms (150 sf each)
• Administration Offices and Work Area (1,500 sf)
• Rest Rooms (1,200 sf)
• Services (1,200 sf)

Many of the activities that normally take place in a library are not intrinsically physical and may be accomplished by electronic simulation or other means. Each designer will determine to what degree the proposed library will require a physical or on-line presence. (Note that information organization is a primary role of libraries. Therefore, designers must establish clear relationships between the physical and cybereal components of their projects.)

Registration through October 15, 1998

Submission through January 31, 1999

Deadlines are Midnight, in the Pacific Time Zone, on the dates in question.

All entries must be completed and the Organizing Committee notified through electronic mail by January 31, 1999. Members of the Organizing Committee will review the submitted entries, and select the finalists who will be notified by electronic mail on February 15, 1999, at which time they may modify their proposals prior to the final jury review. Winners will be announced by electronic mail to all contestants on March 15, 1999.

The competition is open to students of design and professional designers worldwide.

Registrations must be postmarked by October 15, 1998.

• The entry fee is US$40.00 for professional designers, payable with a check drawn on a U.S. bank or with an international money order. Make check or money order payable to ACADIA.

• There is no entry fee for students. However, students must send a proof of the student status (either full-time or part-time). Acceptable proof includes a letter issued by the University, or a copy of the student identification document.

Each participant (whether student or professional) must submit a REGISTRATION FORM. (Note that even though members of the jury will have access only to the web address, anonymity cannot be insured due to the nature of the presentation medium.)

Mail registration material, postmarked by the deadline, to:

Loukas Kalisperis
Department of Architecture
The Pennsylvania State University
206 Engineering Unit C
University Park, PA 16802
USA

---

SUBMISSION

---

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

By submitting a competition entry you grant permission to the competition organizers to publish all or part of your submission when publishing the competition results.

1. Competitors will submit design proposals as web pages accessible by Internet browsers.

2. The first page of each proposal will have information to clearly direct the viewer to the rest of the pages. It will have a recognizable image of the proposal with a brief statement describing it.

3. Pages will be viewed at the resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels. All pages should require a minimum of scrolling to view, as this will help ensure that the jurors will see all that is intended.

4. There are no limits on the total size or the number of web pages, although participants should recognize that jurors may find succinct presentations easier to navigate. It is recommended that graphics be clear and relatively small in size, that is, saved in JPEG or other high compression format. All text must be written in English. The site should be clearly organized for review, with clear and consistent navigational aids.

Submissions must contain:

1. Design statement including an itemized response to the program, indicating ways in which it was met using spatial simulation and/or physical solutions.

2. Diagrams appropriate to the proposal. Physical and hybrid proposals should have scaled plans, sections and elevations of their configuration.

3. Simulated (cyber) spaces must be presented in such a way that their purpose and relationship to the rest of the scheme is clear. These spaces may further be explained through additional graphics and text.

---

JURY

---

James Glymph, Principal,
Frank O. Gehry & Associates

Robert Ivy, Editor in Chief,
Architectural Record Magazine

Greg Lynn, Design Principal, FORM, and
Instructor, Columbia University and UCLA

Thom Mayne, Principal, Morphosis Architects, and
Professor, UCLA School of Art and Architecture

William Mitchell, Professor and Dean,
MIT School of Architecture and Planning

---

PRIZES

---

First Prize:	US$3,000	plus a choice of software.
Second Prize:	US$1,500	plus a choice of software.
Third Prize:	US$800	plus a choice of software.
Merit Award: (2 given)	US$300	plus a choice of software.
SOFTWARE PRIZES
Kinetix	3DStudio MAX
Graphisoft	ArchiCAD
Autodesk	AutoCAD r14
autodessys	form-Z
Bentley Systems	Microstation
Diehl Graphsoft	MiniCAD
Microsoft	Softimage

All prizes will be awarded at the discretion of the jury.
Winning proposals will be announced and published in the ACADIA Quarterly.

---

SPONSORS

---

The organizers wish to gratefully acknowledge the sponsorship of each of the following companies.

---

CONTRIBUTORS

---

The organizers wish to gratefully acknowledge the contributions by each of the following companies.

---

ENDORSEMENTS

---

ACSA	ACSA: Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture
AIA	AIA CAP-PIA: American Institute of Architects Computer Aided Practice Professional Interest Area

---

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

---

Peter Anders, Architect, Michigan

Michael Berk, Mississippi State University

Brian Johnson, University of Washington

Loukas Kalisperis, Pennsylvania State University

Branko Kolarevic, Committee Chair, University of Hong Kong

Jerry Laiserin, Architect, New York

---

If you have questions or need additional information, please email Branko Kolarevic using branko@hku.hk