Finding Common Ground
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Abstract
Technology is an integral part of our daily lives; it affects how we communicate, interact and function in society. The use of technology has both positive and negative effects on society and our lives as individuals. With the rapid development and prevalence of technology in our society, we must understand how technology impacts our society and what role architecture plays in this relationship. For example, public libraries serve all people in the community, and the services they provide can help people improve multiple aspects of their lives. In the past, the public libraries' role was to provide the community with information and services that people often could not access anywhere else. However, with advances in technology, public libraries' services, and arguably their importance to the community, have diminished. The project's architectural response to the relationship between technology, society, and the built environment is to capture the library's essence as a community resource and separate the label of a library from the function of serving as a collection of books. A library is not a collection of books; a library is a community resource that facilitates individual, family, and community development. This is how libraries must function to stay relevant in modern society. The research investigates and analyzes precedents in designing facilities that function as centers for community, education, entertainment, or innovation and how they serve and impact the community by creating unique interactions exclusive to each project. The insight gathered through research will serve to reestablish the public library's role in modern society through architecture as a community center for community interaction and improvement.