VIEWPOINTS

Fifth Façade
— Nowshin Matin

Weaving an intangible tapestry

Public infrastructure has always been an integral part of any civilization. From the Great Bath of Mohenjo-Daro to the Greek Agora, such architecture not only served a communal function but reflected the community and its culture as well. Contemporary public infrastructures too embody this blend of a tangible function with an intangible reflection. They are a mirror of the community: people, their relationships, and their interactions with the physical space they inhabit give birth to memories and traditions, which make up the intangible aspects that give meaning to any public space. Most buildings we see every day usually have four visible sides, or façades. But public infrastructures have an invisible fifth façade. It is made up of memories, attachments, and all things intangible. In exploring the Louise Riley Library in Calgary, this essay deciphers how intangible aspects of the community have integrated with existing infrastructure and how the resulting character can be preserved and enhanced.

The Louise Riley is under the umbrella of the Calgary Public Library system. A little browse of the library website reveals its bustling nature. The Louise Riley library is separated into two buildings: the main library and an annex building. The annex used to be a health services building, now being used for community activities. Over the decades, the library has witnessed how the surrounding area has developed. There is a fire hall to the north, commercial area to the east, community health centre to the west, and the LRT station to the south. Due to the area being developed in an unsystematic way, these entities are separated from each other by roads and parking lots. This acts as a hindrance for pedestrian access. The low fences separating the library from the adjacent field add to the inaccessibility. Louise Riley’s context may be a “mess,” but it gives the library greater exposure. The neighbourhood this library is part of is in the midst of a growing city. With the possibility of future development, the current exposure couples the site with immense potential. The tangible potential is for the site to become a hub for transit-oriented development, while, the intangible prospect is creating a greater sense of community through that development. 

Perhaps the adoration that Louise Riley receives despite the physical setbacks is due to the activities presently incorporated within the library. The infrastructure surpasses its primary function of a library. The programs offered are carefully calibrated to resonate with different demographics in varied situations. The library system is imaginative in its methods of connection. For example, with children, the library offers various types of online and in-person learning. Another program called “Library on the road” is a mobile library that brings the infrastructure closer to the children of the community. “Kitchen table classroom” is another a program that is centred around children but directed to parents. It assists parents in helping their children learn in creative ways. Such programs, which have positive impacts in children’s early years  and on families as a whole, create intangible long-term connections with individuals.

The Calgary Public Library is taking part in the in the process of reconciliation among diverse residential communities. Acknowledgements and the designing of subsequent programs weave the intangible tapestry of connections further. Indigenous services and placemaking at Louise Riley help the library learn from indigenous communities about the land it is situated on. This knowledge is then exchanged through the same program to other communities. The library is laying out the platform for learning, for connections, for reconciliation. Maybe Louise Riley’s existing physical capacity falls short in terms of accommodating the vast history and scale of diversity embodied by Indigenous communities. However, programs like a virtual meet with an Elder start the conversation. Recognizing past hostilities and taking the lead in the healing process are ways in which the library can remain relevant in the reconciliation process. The reconciliation process is a two-way road, with the fifth façade at its intersection. It is an exchange between those who do not know the vast history of the land and those who have this knowledge ingrained in them. 

The library not only connects people through creative learning strategies, but also by addressing individual concerns through, for example, the presence of mental health desks. These may not all of an individual’s issues, but their presence shows that the library acknowledges this issue and is willing to proactively find solutions.  It makes one feel that “someone is there.” During solitary and cold Canadian winters, libraries offer a reprieve to people. Louise Riley becomes a change of setting from the mundane winter routine. The library instills in people a feeling of warmth. Being able to evoke such feelings is characteristic of the fifth façade. 

As individual struggles and community aspirations weave into the fifth façade, the library weaves into the community. The intangible aspects embodied by the library are the community’s identityas it reflects the area’s growing and evolving population.

People camping out in secluded spots of Lions Park, or young people sleeping on the grass around the train station highlight the issue of the unhoused within the community. Speaking of the unhoused, the issue of density is an ongoing debate among residents, developers, and designers. Perhaps the gaps that create these concerns can be filled by the fifth façade. The library’s knowledge of the intangible aspects of the community, which it has collected over decades, can be used to design programs specific to the neighbourhood. These programs then become the fillers, weaving the intangible tapestry further. 

The programs themselves need not be implemented within the library itself. They could take the form of  digital media. They could even be wild mobile public events with ice-cream carts. Will the method of implementation be to integrate or perform? Do the programs become directly implemented within and by the library itself, or is it better if they are communicated through another entity? Nevertheless, the fifth façade can be used as a guide in designing the methods. Using it as a pivot, the library becomes infinite.

References

[1] Gisolfi, Peter. “New Trends that Define the 21st-Century Library,” Essay. In Advances in Library Administration and Organization 33, 33:175-95. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2015.

[2] Olivia Veltom, David Down. d.talks WriteON Residency Conversation. Calgary, 13 August, 2021.

[3] Map of surrounding neighbourhood, [Online]. Available at: https://goo.gl/maps/MtUmx9eRC7vc2xjp6. [Accessed August, 2021.]

[4] Druh Farrell, Catherine Hamel. d.talks WriteON Residency Conversation. Calgary, 20 August, 2021.

[5] Indigenous Placemaking at the Calgary Public Library, [Online]. Available at: https://calgarylibrary.ca/connect/indigenous-services/indigenous-placemaking/. [Accessed September, 2021.]

[6] Danielle Nauss, Adrian Wolfleg. d.talks WriteON Residency Conversation. Calgary, 27 August, 2021.

Nowshin Matin is an architecture student whose research is focused on communities, namely their social construct and relationship with the natural environment, as well as how regional practice philosophies must evolve to be relevant.

Nowshin was a Critic-in-Residence at the Calgary Public Library as part of the 2021 WriteON program and the Amend series. Co-produced by d.talks and the Calgary Public Library and supported by Calgary Arts Development, the residency explored the role of public infrastructure at a neighbourhood scale, seeking to understand the relationship between the public realm and the community.