The Bookery, Portable Reading Room Competition

The Bookery is a solution designed to respond to an international ideas competition requesting portable reading room designs incorporating bicycle parking, book storage and seating. The solution represents a layering of opportunities and a multitude of possibilities; it caters to perusal, reading and appreciation of books and also encourages communal development and the exchange of ideas.

The design begins with the idea of a 96’ x 96’ plane divided into three equal pieces, and when extruded creates three equal volumes. These volumes then undergo strategic manipulation – subtraction – to lead to the final modules. The conceptual carving out of the volume accounts for each module’s intended function – a seat, a book storage space, and a bike parking stand. The same process, applied in a different manner, allows for three different uses.

The final modules would be constructed out of 8′ x 4′ standard prefabricated sheets of locally sourced wood allowing for efficiency and ease of fabrication. They are layered to create the final volume and are connected to each other to allow for a predetermined range of rotation which allows for varied configurations and spatial adjacencies. A combination and configuration of modules can be chosen depending on individual site constraints.

The act of reading a book has the potential of transporting its reader into an altogether different world through imagination, and the Bookery aims to provide its users with the flexibility to create their own site and usage specific context.