You know something is really cool when the glossary is exciting. Try the BMW Guggenheim Lab Berlin glossary that identifies the 100 most talked about trends in urban thinking. The glossary and its preamble articulate these Nest City ideas: cities are idea makers, density catalyzes human progress, the reason for the existence of cities is the well-being of the people who inhabit them, and collaboration has long been part of the human experience.
Here’s part of the preamble to the glossary:
Integral to this glossary is the concept of cities as ‘idea makers.’ In cities, people come together, share their thoughts and common interests, and generate the ideas that shape our world. Dense, growing cities have been and continue to be the catalyst for human progress, powered by daily proximity amount their citizens as much as anything else…Urban thinking, whether related to architecture or urbanism, has become dramatically less focused on infrastructure, and more on the ultimate goal and reason for the existence of cities – that is, the well-being of the people that inhabit them and constitute their very soul and essence…Clustering, searching for a concentration of people, and finding ways to collaborate have been part of the human experience since prehistoric times.
The top 100 trends identify the emerging destination for a our cities, one that embraces ideas, catalytic human progress, the well-being of inhabitants and new ways of experiencing the collaborative city together:
Well, Xenia, I think libraries fit in all sorts of places. They are public spaces, they are learning spaces, they are gathering spaces. They house culture and history, as well as our future. They are an institution that forms a significant part of the city and its information. More than information, the library houses our stories and culture in so many different ways. Not to mention the stories and culture of the world, of humanity.
I wonder how, exactly, libraries are changing as the city changes? Information is such a different thing now than it was 10 years ago even. Information is in so many places. Libraries today provide access to information via technology, not just the paper book/magazine.
I wonder what others see? What is the relationship of the city and its libraries as cities are evolving?
What do you think is valid for Edmonton? Where do libraries fit in?
🙂 xenia
Well, Xenia, I think libraries fit in all sorts of places. They are public spaces, they are learning spaces, they are gathering spaces. They house culture and history, as well as our future. They are an institution that forms a significant part of the city and its information. More than information, the library houses our stories and culture in so many different ways. Not to mention the stories and culture of the world, of humanity.
I wonder how, exactly, libraries are changing as the city changes? Information is such a different thing now than it was 10 years ago even. Information is in so many places. Libraries today provide access to information via technology, not just the paper book/magazine.
I wonder what others see? What is the relationship of the city and its libraries as cities are evolving?