Library-City

Abstract

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s central city is witnessing social depletion and devitalisation due to the new remaking and commercialisation of civic life at its waterfront. In response, this thesis advocates for a social revitalisation in the city’s older ‘civic centre’ via a new framework for urbanism. The proposed framework seeks to diversify the socio-cultural representation of the urban fabric of which the remediation of the culverted Waihorotiu waterways has taken a leading role. To catalyse the proposed social-urban transformations, the practice of urban play, coupled with learning, has been adopted in this thesis framework to enable users to partake in the remaking of collective value systems and urban life in the city. This research frames play and learning at the ‘intersection’ whereby social identities are most concentrated and diverse, a place where the broadest range of civic life can occur. This notion of ‘intersections’ gives rise to the selection of the Central City Public Library as a site and typology for intervention. The library, located at the physical and programmatic intersection of the learning and entertainment quarters, is identified as a significant civic infrastructure serving a spectrum of urban participants. The thesis attempts to amplify the library’s inherent socio-cultural influence at an urban scale by intersecting and cross-pollinating the library and the city as a strategy for urban social regeneration. This facilitation of intersectionality entails researching and designing for the translation and dissemination of library operations towards an urban network. Supporting this translation, diverse architectural precedents and representational techniques investigate new relationships between land, architecture, program, and performativity. Surfacing from these investigations, Library-City proposes an alternative urbanism for the city, one which remediates histories, ecologies and cultural identities in a sustainable and socially regenerative manner.