Hong Xi
Academic Landscape: Regenerate a riverside warehouse as an emblem of active learning
Nanjing University, China
Tutors: Pingping Dou, Ingrid Schröder
The hidden academic landscape of Cambridge libraries is made visible and integrated as an active part of urban space, while maintaining the institutions’ learning role at a time of great change in how libraries are used.
This project studies the typology of reading spaces such as university, college and faculty libraries and analyses different users’ reading behaviours. It then proposes the regeneration of a warehouse on the River Cam into a learning place for both students and the public. Positioned in one of the most crowded areas for tourists, the building becomes a key part of the waterside landscape by addressing international visitors as well as both town and gown. The proposal implants bookshelves within the historic building to create a protective form that acts as a symbol of the academic landscape. Different aspects of active learning are explored, with elements including rooftop and ‘eat and read’ restaurant reading as well as strategy for punting reading.