Pantheon of Wonder

Essay

Abstraction of Colorful Light

Library Architecture: Into the Future

by Maria Lorena Lehman

Architectural Design

Architecture Drawing

Library Evolution

As data is being “stored” and “networked” in the digital age, some people question the future of library architecture. Two leading questions are as follows:

  • “How will the library evolve?

  • “Will the library (as we know it today) become obsolete?”

Most present-day libraries help to foster a sense of community with an emphasis on learning where people can interact, explore, study and research. However, the library is evolving (as most institutions do) and its future is bound to transform what we know about how libraries operate today.

The library will not become obsolete, but it will evolve.

Accessible to Everyone

How architects incorporate design elements like light, materiality or even nature may change, but such essentials will most always be considered as future libraries develop. What we, as architects, should be asking is…

  • How can innovative library architecture contribute to how, when and where we come together to access information?

  • What form(s) will that information take?

  • How will we make sense of such information?

As the “digital” combines with the “networked”, libraries could make deeper levels of information more accessible — transcending the internet. You see, innovative libraries could help individuals discover and learn in ways that go beyond what the internet and social media are providing today.

Redefining How We Make Sense of Information

Innovative libraries can foster many face-to-face encounters that the internet does not currently provide. Libraries can bring together the best of both worlds — the “everywhere-ness” of the internet plus the “face-to-face-ness” of a community center. In the end, innovative libraries would redefine how visitors study, interact, explore and learn — all key ingredients to what makes a good library design.

The library of tomorrow will take new form, redefining how we all come together to make sense of information that is “everywhere”.

Image Credit: © pnoeric | Flickr

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Dear reader,


I believe life is a continual process of awakening. As the journey of my own life continues, I always find myself connecting my experiences, studies, and ideas to new creative projects that bring beauty, inspiration, and hope for our world. For over 30 years, since starting at age 17, I have immersed myself in architectural design; and early on, I earned a Master of Design with Distinction from Harvard University, setting the foundation for decades of deep immersion in the field. Yet even before this, I held music close to my heart. At the age of 5, I began my first piano lessons; and since then, I began to see the world through a musical lens — even while designing architecture.


Over the decades, I grew closer and closer to music with a deep love for the design of instruments, their unique timbres, and for all the immersive ways their sounds could be interwoven into beautiful orchestrated compositions. I even began to develop a musical composition methodology, Spatial Symphonics, as I found my architectural design work becoming more and more emotive, soul-stirring, and yes: musical.


In recent years, I finally turned my focus to music composition. I hold a Graduate Diploma from the Film Scoring Academy of Europe where my works have been recorded by the acclaimed European Recording Orchestra (ERO), and I am founder of MLL ATELIER® — an award-winning studio now dedicated to my work as an orchestral composer, recording artist, and spatial symphonist — where I advance architectural design through music, and innovate music through architectural design.


It is my hope that I can share my ongoing musical-design journey with you, directly from my studio through my video-newsletter entitled 'Orchestral Notes'. Expect video updates filled with first-access studio news announcing: album/book releases, concert premiers, sheet music publications, creative process sneak-peeks, and my own compositional philosophies as they develop to fuel my ongoing body of musical and architectural authorial works.


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Let’s enjoy the beauty, inspiration, and hope that music brings.


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Warmly,

Maria Lorena Lehman


Founder of MLL ATELIER® | Orchestral Notes

Your invitation:


Dear reader,


I believe life is a continual process of awakening. As the journey of my own life continues, I always find myself connecting my experiences, studies, and ideas to new creative projects that bring beauty, inspiration, and hope for our world. For over 30 years, since starting at age 17, I have immersed myself in architectural design; and early on, I earned a Master of Design with Distinction from Harvard University, setting the foundation for decades of deep immersion in the field. Yet even before this, I held music close to my heart. At the age of 5, I began my first piano lessons; and since then, I began to see the world through a musical lens — even while designing architecture.


Over the decades, I grew closer and closer to music with a deep love for the design of instruments, their unique timbres, and for all the immersive ways their sounds could be interwoven into beautiful orchestrated compositions. I even began to develop a musical composition methodology, Spatial Symphonics, as I found my architectural design work becoming more and more emotive, soul-stirring, and yes: musical.


In recent years, I finally turned my focus to music composition. I hold a Graduate Diploma from the Film Scoring Academy of Europe where my works have been recorded by the acclaimed European Recording Orchestra (ERO), and I am founder of MLL ATELIER® — an award-winning studio now dedicated to my work as an orchestral composer, recording artist, and spatial symphonist — where I advance architectural design through music, and innovate music through architectural design.


It is my hope that I can share my ongoing musical-design journey with you, directly from my studio through my video-newsletter entitled 'Orchestral Notes'. Expect video updates filled with first-access studio news announcing: album/book releases, concert premiers, sheet music publications, creative process sneak-peeks, and my own compositional philosophies as they develop to fuel my ongoing body of musical and architectural authorial works.


I would love for you to join me for this exciting adventure.


Simply click the button below to join my Orchestral Notes video-newsletter delivered every two weeks directly to your email inbox. Plus, get access to the full publication archives.

JOIN ORCHESTRAL NOTES

Limited availability each month.


Warmly,

Maria Lorena Lehman


Founder of MLL ATELIER

Author of PANTHEON OF WONDER

Maria Lorena Lehman has received the following awards and has been seen in the following publications: