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Civic Space and Roadside Billboard: Library Inspired by a Stack of Books

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A Delaware library by Ikon.5 Architects takes a page from a pile of books
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The Kirkwood Public Library in New Castle, Delaware, breaks away from the traditional mold of library buildings. Designed by the Princeton, NJ–based Ikon.5 Architects, the structure has enhanced its commercial surroundings with an eye-catching facade made up of a series of horizontal cement boards—a symbolic abstraction of a stack of books.

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Rather than viewing the commercial highway location as a hindrance to great design, the project architects used it as inspiration, and envisioned "a roadside billboard announcing the public civic function of reading, learning, and exploration." Appearing as a large collection of books on a highway flanked with commercial billboards and fast food restaurants, this theme of reading is visible in every aspect of the design.

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