Calgary’s New Public Library will be one for the ages October 1, 2014 – Posted in: Content, Interior Design, Libraries, public libraries

The latest entry in the elite coolest libraries on the planet club comes from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The competition-winning design from Snøhetta and DIALOG rings in the new while melding into the surrounding communities. The new design will realize the city’s vision for a technologically advanced public space for innovation, research and collaboration while embracing the city’s diverse urban culture and unique climate. Upon entering the library, visitors encounter a lobby awash with natural light. Your eye is…

The Really Small World of Tim Sidford August 30, 2014 – Posted in: books in design, Content, Interior Design

We all know good things come in small packages but British artist Tim Sidford takes the cake with his meticulous miniature interiors. Bordering on unbelievable, Sidford recreates the stuff that dreams are made of within the smallest of structures. Here’s his take on his “bonkers hobby of creating miniature interiors”: I love the drama of many historic interiors. Creating these models helps allows me to indulge my ‘inner designer’! The rooms are constructed from wood and…

Reading Room for One August 27, 2014 – Posted in: Books and Art, books in design, Content, Installation, Interior Design, Library Architecture

For the 2013 Lisbon Architecture Triennale artist Marta Wengorovius teamed with architect Francisco Aires Mateus to produce this little slice of paradise; a reading cabin for one. The simple wood structure is fit for one person, holds one bookshelf and has a raised seating area and that’s it. It is light by a skylight. The artist populated the bookshelf by asking 20 guests to choose three books each for the library. “Sharing this itinerant project creates a…

Reinventing the Bookshop: Four architecture and design firms “create the bookshop of their dreams” August 8, 2014 – Posted in: Books and Technology, books in design, Bookselling / Collecting, bookshops, Content, Interior Design

intelligent life magazine asked 4 companies to “create the bookshop of their dreams.” Each were given the same instructions: to design a general-interest bookshop, selling fiction, non-fiction and e-books, in store and online, on a typical European high-street site, with two floors of 1,000 square feet each. The budget was £100,000—modest, we knew, but independent booksellers aren’t minted and that figure was ring-fenced for the fit-out; they could assume there would be further funds for…

A Look at the New Home of St. Mark’s Bookshop August 2, 2014 – Posted in: Bookselling / Collecting, bookshops, Content, Interior Design

After months and months of tumult St. Mark’s Book Shop has landed in its home and it’s a beauty. The space, designed by Clouds Architecture Office, will give St. Mark’s a fighting chance as it navigates the new book landscape. From the project listing on Architizer: The perimeter of the space is wrapped with full height shelving, freeing up the interior as a flexible use space. Variously stacked display units provide table display space while doubling as…