The Globus Design Associates Blog

Library Home Page Missed Opportunity?

While I was catching up on some library news, I read a couple of stories announcing the

opening of the Agave Library, a branch of the Phoenix Public Library.   

Photo from www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org

The contemporary structure, designed by Will Bruder + Partners, LTD is drawing attention due to the "cowboy front" (Bruder's description) which is designed to give the building presence among the retail establishments surrounding it.

Love it or hate, you have to admit, it's distinctive. I jumped to the Library's home page to see what virtual presence a library which obviously cares about design puts forward and this is what greets you. I felt disconnected from the library that the building hints at.

When a library is lucky enough to be housed in an unusual building or contains a special collection that makes it distinctive, why not trumpet it on its home page?  Part of the object of the web site is to attract people, even the mildly curious, to the building; otherwise the library as place will not be a justified expense to the communities that support it.

The importance of people in design photos

Pretty Pictures

To continue the theme of the effect of motion on how we perceive design, I find it odd that we frequently see interior design represented as a series of still photographs by the design press. (Visualize the beautiful photos in the design magazine of your choice.) What we are required to react to is a flat composition of colors and shapes that have little to do with a person's experience of a space, especially when they move through it.  It limits the definition of interior design to art as opposed to the creation of interior spaces to support the highest level of human activity (my elevator definition of interior design). This definition addresses aesthetics, sustainability, accessibility, the psychology of color and spatial relationships and all the other aspects of interior design because without all of it taken into account, humans can't perform at their maximum.

My company is guilty of promoting our design work conventionally by using still shots. We are understanding that rather than "ruin" a good shot by capturing a person in it -as I've sometimes heard it expressed by design professionals - it feels right to keep people in our photographs. 

Without humans

Ocean County Library Children's Room. Interior Design by Globus Design Associates

With humans

Raritan Public Library Children's Room.  Interior Design by Globus Design Associates

Although she doesn't stand out in the photo, the little girl in the stage coach structure conveys a sense of how a child might use this redesigned former 18th Century tavern turned children's library space.

I believe putting people in design photos promotes understanding of the experience of using the space beyond establishing a human scale.  At least I hope so and would be interested to know your thoughts.