Born, like other comic book characters, out of an otherwise trivial but life-changing animal bite, the Rabid Librarian seeks out strange, useless facts, raves about real and perceived injustices, and seeks to meet her greatest challenge of all--her own life.
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Showing posts with label Design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Design. Show all posts
Saturday, February 04, 2023
So I did some revamping today
as I'm sure you can tell, as the background image and fonts are completely different. I was trying to fix an issue where the sidebar text was loading at the bottom of the page rather than in a column to the right, and finally solved it after two hours by dragging some gadgets around the layout. I also went back into several posts and removed some code that was causing abnormal displays. I originally designed this blog myself, then several years upgraded to the design I had this morning. This one is by the same person, just a cometic difference with the background. Blogger's come a long way in twenty-two years. Anyway, since I'm trying to rekindle this blog, I thought it was time for a change. I'm also so glad I fixed the issue, although there is still a lag in loading the right-handed sidebar (there are now two, one on the left, one on the right). It was driving me mad.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
If the pictures are any indication,
then home library design has taken a horrible turn for the worst.
Right at Home: Personal libraries are retreats
Despite the text of the article indicating that people still want spaces to read (both a print book in the hand or electronically), and how shelves can be designed to integrate books into the home that can be innovative rather than merely traditional, the pictures that accompany the article are, well, awful. For one, there are hardly any books to be seen. For another, the shelves are mostly ugly. Three, the one picture with a good number of books has all the books set up so their blocks are set in geometric patterns but the spines are hidden, meaning the books are there for show and generally unusable. I despise books for show, like when people used to build the 'Downton Abbey' libraries mentioned in the article and then fill it with old books that were totally unread, and merely because the weathered covers looked good in the room. As someone who has something in the neighbourhood of 3,000 books, and in a 750-square-foot apartment at that, I relish good private library design that integrates the books into the environment cleanly, reflecting the personality of the owner. A friend has even more books, and he has had built-in bookshelves from floor to ceiling, painted white, put in several rooms, combining two small rooms into a true private library at one point. It's very inviting, and guess what, you can see all the books and while not yet catalogued, they're all in order and you can find one in a very short time. Mine, sadly, are not quite in order; my goal this past year was to get them all up on shelves, and then this year I can actually put them in some semblance of order. The history, fantasy, religion, philosophy, writing, and children's books are in their areas--it's mainly other non-fiction and literature that need help. In my apartment I used fairly decent-looking stacking, folding bookshelves that can easily be taken down and moved, even though I've lived in the same place for over 10 years.
My point is, libraries, even personal ones, are meant to be used. They can be decorative, but shouldn't merely be so. If you do not read, or have no real love of books, skip the home library. If all you do is use electronic books or a computer, a study with a few books in it and a comfy chair or computer is fine--but it isn't a library. Places should be designed around how they are used, not just to be something for the sake of design. (That goes for regular libraries, too, which are often designed with things like flat roofs that will contribute to flooding the stacks later, etc. Architects rarely seem to actually talk to the librarians or patrons who use the library to determine what would work well for them. They should. Then they can be as innovative in their design as they want, but there should be a practical side, as well.) That's my opinion, anyway.
Right at Home: Personal libraries are retreats
Despite the text of the article indicating that people still want spaces to read (both a print book in the hand or electronically), and how shelves can be designed to integrate books into the home that can be innovative rather than merely traditional, the pictures that accompany the article are, well, awful. For one, there are hardly any books to be seen. For another, the shelves are mostly ugly. Three, the one picture with a good number of books has all the books set up so their blocks are set in geometric patterns but the spines are hidden, meaning the books are there for show and generally unusable. I despise books for show, like when people used to build the 'Downton Abbey' libraries mentioned in the article and then fill it with old books that were totally unread, and merely because the weathered covers looked good in the room. As someone who has something in the neighbourhood of 3,000 books, and in a 750-square-foot apartment at that, I relish good private library design that integrates the books into the environment cleanly, reflecting the personality of the owner. A friend has even more books, and he has had built-in bookshelves from floor to ceiling, painted white, put in several rooms, combining two small rooms into a true private library at one point. It's very inviting, and guess what, you can see all the books and while not yet catalogued, they're all in order and you can find one in a very short time. Mine, sadly, are not quite in order; my goal this past year was to get them all up on shelves, and then this year I can actually put them in some semblance of order. The history, fantasy, religion, philosophy, writing, and children's books are in their areas--it's mainly other non-fiction and literature that need help. In my apartment I used fairly decent-looking stacking, folding bookshelves that can easily be taken down and moved, even though I've lived in the same place for over 10 years.
My point is, libraries, even personal ones, are meant to be used. They can be decorative, but shouldn't merely be so. If you do not read, or have no real love of books, skip the home library. If all you do is use electronic books or a computer, a study with a few books in it and a comfy chair or computer is fine--but it isn't a library. Places should be designed around how they are used, not just to be something for the sake of design. (That goes for regular libraries, too, which are often designed with things like flat roofs that will contribute to flooding the stacks later, etc. Architects rarely seem to actually talk to the librarians or patrons who use the library to determine what would work well for them. They should. Then they can be as innovative in their design as they want, but there should be a practical side, as well.) That's my opinion, anyway.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Fascinated with imaginary cities?
Urville is the product of twenty years of planning and design by an autistic man, complete with history and illustrations. It looks very interesting, not only for its beauty, but also because it provides a window into how the autistic brain works. The book is available on Amazon.
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