this was the first project where i designed primarily for wellbeing. the pilkington library wasn't failing at storage, it was failing at atmosphere. three students i interviewed called it soulless, uninspiring and not worth the walk. i went looking for a model of calm older than the problem and found it in the epicurean idea of ataraxia.
my first attempt was a faithful greek temple, and it was too obedient to be useful. so i took the structural language apart and rebuilt the loose pieces across fifty square metres: a walkway, a bridge over water, a statue pond, a roof that retracts.
i deconstructed the teachings of ancient greek philosophers and architects, and reconstructed them for the modern era.
