This timber structure clad in recycled food packaging, houses a temporary library and book exchange and was designed and built by architecture students in Cēsis, Latvia, (located in the Baltic region of Northern Europe)
Summer school students and tutors from Riga Technical University (RTU) modelled the Story Tower on a giant wooden lamp, creating a sheltered destination for people to duck inside and find something to read.
Shelves are integrated within the tapered walls and are filled with books on the lowest levels, placing them at easy-reaching height for visitors. Students spent two weeks designing the miniature library and built it over three and a half days using reclaimed materials. The frame and floor were made from locally-sourced soft timber, while recycled Tetra Pak juice cartons were folded, cut and mounted to create the waterproof roof shingles.
Students attached a total of 2250 shingles to pre-fabricated panels, then carried them to the site along with the wooden frames. Now complete, the book exchange is stocked with unwanted books from a local library that is currently undergoing a refurbishment.
“We sought to use the locally established concept of a free book exchange to create a dialogue between diverse groups and individuals of the town,” said the design team. “[It is] a place where books can be deposited before making a journey, exchanged after finishing a journey or simply borrowed while waiting for a bus.”
“The tower’s location is the precise point where local shifts taking place within the town are most visible,” the team added, referring to its position between the train station, bus terminus and library.
Other temporary buildings built by students include a giant wooden cocoon in a park in Dorset, a wedge-shaped wooden pavilion with water and stepping stones and a pod-shaped woodland retreat.
Instinct Furniture BLOG, mostly about cool libraries, furniture and design – keeping you abreast of our world. (Source: Dezeen Magazine).
