Thesis Booklet - A Library of the Mind

A Library of the Mind
Master of Architecture 2017
Dami Lee
Master of Architecture Program
Ryerson University

Abstract
In order to adapt to the explosion of technology and information in the post-modern world, our culture has organized knowledge into distinct categories and has privileged the “known” as the ideal truth. While this reductionist approach allows us to examine a specific topic efficiently, it has also led to a fragmented and oversimplified understanding of an otherwise enigmatic world. Umberto Eco, semiotician and novelist, criticized this rigid categorization and preferred a more complex, labyrinthine system, organizing his personal ad-hoc collection of books into unconventional categories. Venice, the labyrinthine city, is a physical manifestation of the concept of on-linearity and becomes a metaphor and strategy for exploring the idea of mystery and the derive. The thesis explores the themes of slow reading, serendipity, and mystery, through the design of the Research Library that brings together Eco’s collection.

Pages: 300, colors
Format: PDF