Not Forever
Yale Advanced Design Studio with Kevin Carmody and Andrew Groarke
Storage infrastructures are highly resilient. Books require highly controlled and tightly sealed environments for their preservation. However, resilience for the British Library is much more than a purely physical phenomenon. The institution relies on strengthening and expanding their networks of collaboration with national and international partners to advance knowledge and mutual understanding.
This studio prompts us to examine the impact of new architecture at a sublime scale for the conservation of physical knowledge in perpetuity. We are asked to consider how the archive storage and distribution network of the British Library is to be future-proofed for a minimum of 300 years.
In my proposal, physical resilience is achieved through institutional resilience. The site has long been conceived as purely infrastructural and operational, however a critical mass of books needs a critical mass of people to care for them in order to survive. I see an opportunity to infuse the storage site at Boston Spa with new social programs including a research center, cafe, and convention hall.
The archive at Boston Spa can only remain relevant and cared for through active public engagement with the site, just as the institution remains culturally and financially strong through programs that enable outreach and gathering. My project asks the question: what are the ways in which we can bring books and people together for their mutual and collective benefit?
