B7_#072 // The Library // Johanna Just

The visitor checks the library system for the desired book, looking for a quote or other evidence for a preconceived notion – soon roaming around looking for its location on the shelves. He borrows it from a counter or online system and takes a seat in the study room – whenever finished studying, the scholar returns the book to a book drop where it disappears in a trap.

Reversing the ordinary process of information management lets us scrutinize and rethink the typology of the library: entering the Reverse Library, we are finding ourselves in an empty monk’s cell, the quintessential study – the books hidden from the eye. Instead of being surrounded by a mass of books, the scholars find themselves confronted with only one book at a time, released by a reverse-book-drop. The read book is then again disposed back into the automated library system. The normal function of the library is subverted – reading on ‘shuffle’ allows the scholar to leave their individual academic bubble and to gain new knowledge.

Johanna Just is an M.Arch Graduate from The Bartlett School of Architecture