ORANGE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Mixed Use - Civic Engagement
Professor Mitchell DeJarnett
Location:
Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana, California has been the longstanding county hub for all things government, from the local level to the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse. All governmental services do not clearly engage with the immediate context, in which Santa Ana is one of the poorest cities within Orange County, having the lowest graduation rates. Based on statistics, Santa Ana is one of the most democratic cities and has the greatest population of Latinos living within Orange County.
There is a disconnection of public space in correlation with the various architectural ideologies at play, in which all institutions work on their own. The interstitial spaces become space for the public, in which the super blocks structures populate a dense field. This project intends to strengthen public space by empowering the voices of those living in Santa Ana, where there is a projecting of localized art that speaks to various political, social, and economic disparities.
The overall question is: Appointed within a dense field of architectural ideologies, how can the OC Public Library reinterpret historic notions of democratically held spaces deemed “public,” while embracing the identity of Santa Ana?
The freedom of expression then becomes a key architectural component, in which a somewhat modernist design get “assaulted” through the application and projection of large murals which bend and fold, creating a distorted image. The architecture is then used as
a billboard for the marginalized, in which all other buildings that enact public policy must negotiate with the changing demands of the people of Santa Ana.
On the ground plan, there is a consideration for different types of circulation. Wayfinding is indicative to that of a protest’s processional march to city hall, creating connections with the overall functions and importance of the library. Programmatically, it is not a conventional library; there’s the inclusion of a laundromat, barbershop, food bank,
as well as a job resource center. Vertical circulation is achieved through a series of playfully articulated atriums that connect various library stacks and other programs. Apertures are used as methods of wayfinding and capture views of the local context.
