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The Microlibrary is located at Taman Bima, Bima Street in Bandung in a small square in a Kampung neighborhood near the airport. The neighborhood consists of middle class housing on one side and a Kampung (village) like structure on the other, where less affluent people live. The Taman Bima Microlibrary is the first realized prototype of a series of small libraries in different locations throughout Indonesia, which we intend to build.
With an Interest in books and reading declining in the past years, the illiteracy rate and school dropout rate in Indonesia remains high. Our mission is to rekindle interest in books by offering a dedicated place for reading and learning, availability of books, other media and courses. The Microlibrary adds identity and is a source of pride for all the people in the neighborhood. The activities and teaching are currently supported and organized by Dompet Dhuafa (Pocket for the Poor) and the Indonesian Diaspora Foundation. However, the ultimate goal is to enable the local people to organize the content and maintenance independently.
The building is situated in a small square with a preexisting stage that was already used by the local community for gatherings, events, hanging out and sports activities. Our intention was to add rather than take away, so we decided to enhance the open stage by shading it, making it rain protected and cover it in form of the floating library box.
The building is constructed via a simple steel structure made from I-beams and concrete slabs for floor and roof. The stage was reworked in concrete and a previously missing, wide stair was added. As the building is located in a tropical climate, we aimed to create a pleasant indoor climate without the use of air conditioning. Therefore, we looked for available façade materials in the neighborhood that were cost efficient, could shade the interior, let daylight pass and enable enough cross ventilation. Initially, we found several small vendors selling used, white and translucent jerry cans. However, prior to construction the jerry cans were no longer available in the quantities we required. Instead, we found used plastic ice cream buckets that were being sold in bulk. This turned out for the better as they have a more positive image and are more stable when cutting the bottom open for cross ventilation.
While studying design options of how to arrange 2000 ice cream buckets, we realized that they could be interpreted as zeros (opened) and ones (closed), thus giving us the possibility to embed a message in the façade in the form of a binary code. We asked the Mayor of Bandung, Ridwan Kamil, a supporter of the project whether he had a message for the Microlibrary and neighborhood and his message is: “buku adalah jendela dunia”, meaning books are the windows to the world. The message can be read starting from the top left (facing the front) and spirals down around the perimeter repeatedly. Not only does the facade give additional meaning to the building but the buckets also generate a pleasant indoor light ambiance since they scatter direct sunlight and act as natural light bulbs.
The buckets were then placed in between vertical steel ribs spanning from floor to roof and are inclined towards the outside to repel rainwater. For more harsh tropical rainstorms translucent sliding doors in the inside can be closed temporarily. Mounting 2000 buckets, making the fixture and punching out bottoms of more than half of them is time consuming. However, the local craftsmen made their own punch out/cutting tools to be faster while also maintaining sharp and clean edges.
The building is very well received among the people in the neighborhood and we get regular feedback about ongoing events, e.g. school class excursions, etc.
From the architect. This is a renovation project of an old flat which measures 22 sqm and 3.3m in height. Due to the high housing prices in Taipei City, the living space that young people can afford has become smaller and smaller in the last decade. Faced with such a living unit which is not spacious but still has a chance to fulfill all basic living functions, the needs of clients must be analyzed more precisely and arranged suitably. The client agrees with the idea that space is as important as function when it comes to a place where people will live for a long time rather than a room for a short-term stay. ( Though the footprint of the flat might be smaller than many hotel rooms. ) We both agree that space should be left free with the main furniture arranged discreetly to ensure the long-term living experience is comfortable.
Take the client in the project for example, she has to travel abroad frequently for work, and after finishing work and coming home, all she needs is a hot bath and a good sleep. Besides a fully equipped bathroom, a compact kitchen is also required and most storage is for clothes and books. She also hopes the living room in the lower space can have both a couch and dining table. ( Because many inhabitants of a small unit in Taipei can only have a meal on the sofa. ) In addition, make the left room empty for doing some exercise. Understanding the needs, we have decided to accept the restriction of the space and utilize it more effectively.
Firstly, the shower was replaced with a bath, and the washer was moved to the kitchen. Because in Taiwan the gas can not be piped into a house without a balcony and a small electric heater can not provide sufficient hot water for a bath, we adjusted the layout of the toilet to make room for a storage water heater, and a sliding door with a mirror which not only makes the maintenance easy but also amplifies the space visually
Fixed furniture such as the kitchen cabinet, the wardrobe and the shelf are attached to the wall to fully utilize the height and avoid aisles. The wardrobe is below the shelf due to the higher frequency of use, but a part of the shelf still can be accessed conveniently from the mezzanine area. Because the height of the mezzanine floor can not allow standing, the furniture on it must be used in a sitting or lying position, such as the bed and the desk.
The tatami area and cabinet alongside the window make full use of the alcove and also provide ample storage. The light steel handrail on the stairs increases the visual penetration, and the wall below it contains a TV and two concealed cabinets for shoes. There are two wooden tables alongside the wall in the living room that could be a long bar table which economizes the room and can be combined in the other direction to be a dining table. Therefore, the empty space is flexible for different needs, and makes the small flat less cramped.
The flat has sufficient natural light and ventilation, and the main colors used are white and oak which makes the space brighter and more spacious. All equipment and fixtures are stacked according to the confines, but not be compressed in size. In a city like Taipei, where the living space is limited, we hope the project can provide a practical solution for people who own a tiny space like this.
Chinese firm Aim Architecture sought to strike a balance between modern and Jazz Age Shanghai with this revamp of a 1930s-style hotel for property developer Soho China (+ slideshow). (more…)
Sig Nordal 