GEOJE CITY LIBRARY (COMPETITION)
SITE CONTEXT
Jangseungpo harbor was designated as a major trade port in 1965. Since then it has been a place where different things and different people gather and disperse. With this endless activity, the port has been a place of diversity and of multifaceted layers all piling upon each other to form its unique placeness. However, the harbor’s activities and time have stagnated as the city center shifting to Shinhyun-eup and with the construction of the Geoga Grand Bridge. It is now referred to as the old city center.
Still, Jangseungpo harbor boasts a high percentage of local inhabitants—those that are born here and have been calling this place home for generations. How should a city library interact with this place? This place with rich educational, cultural, and natural resources. How can the library capture the essences of this place and add a layer of commentary to the city, to its community?
OLD LIBRARY
The Geoje City Library opened its doors in 1993. It has diligently served as the hub of knowledge and information. With time nevertheless and with the changing facets of the city, the Library has fallen back and is lacking in serving the needs of its community. It also struggles to establish itself as a robust public entity within the city.
NEW LIBRARY
What is a good library suited for Jangseungpo harbor? Is it not a place specific to the people it serves? It has to be functionally apt and continue to serve its purpose as a center for dissipating knowledge. But it has to also be (i)a public place that can simultaneously be private; (ii)a place where communal sharing and personal inhabitation coexist; (iii)a firm ground for the community with the layering of personal experiences. The proposal starts from contemplation of the community and the needs that may arise in this community. To examine the community, the project closely considers the individual. The individual trajectories of the various users will ultimately gather and compile to produce something uniquely suited for this place, something completely molded into the daily routines and lives of the community. The new Jangseungpo City Library is a public entity that serves the very individuals of the community that comprises this place.
