Abstract:
The library, evolving from the private collections of
affluent members of society to places of community
learning, has become one of the oldest cultural
building typologies, however these days its future
is uncertain.
Due to the advent of the computer and internet all
the information one requires can be accessed in
the blink of an eye. Thus is it doomed to fade away
as a relic of a bygone era orwill it undertake a new
role in response to this paradigm shift.
The outcome of this thesis is to reconfigure the National
Library of Pakistan by proposing a newwing
of the librarywith a more community based outlook
whichwill be
more in tune with the context and times while acting
as icon for the city.
The National Library of Pakistan is a victim of both
its context as well as the times in which it currently
stands. Gone are the days when people would
issue books or research school assignments and
personal projects. Nowadays these books have
been replaced with computer screens, where anyone
sitting at home has access to all the information
they could want.
Furthermore the library is located far from the heart
of the city, in the red zone which du eto the recent
socio-political nature of the country has become a
restricted area, contributing to it being rarely visited
these days.
Now we need libraries where people rather than
coming to read, come for the social interaction and
the discussion of ideas, changing the format of this
exchangewhile keeping the message same
