SPACE.
AS A MEMORY
Space changes with the cues people choose to follow. Because of that, designers have a responsibility to leave legible traces that help people read and understand a place without overdetermining it. Design should guide subtly, preserving room for imagination, interpretation, and socially shaped assumptions about how a space is meant to function. In this project, I set out to challenge those assumptions about existing occupancy and propose a new spatial typology through my own design language. Working with Providence Public Library as a real client made that challenge especially concrete. As part of its renovation, the library is reimagining itself as a 21st-century educational hub centered on active learning rather than passive use. Our task was to design a café that could serve both as a social anchor within the library and as a potential source of retail income, while also responding to preservation requirements, existing site conditions, and the library’s broader institutional vision.
In response, I envisioned a café for the 21st century: not simply a place to eat or gather, but a space for both physical and virtual exchange, where ideas, stories, and collective memory could circulate. I wanted the café to foster inclusion and community engagement, creating connections among otherwise disconnected populations in Rhode Island. To express that concept spatially, I developed a new café typology defined by a linear, geometric, and minimal interior language. The restrained palette and simple formal vocabulary were intended to draw attention to key interactive elements, such as the digital box and writable wall, and to guide movement through the space. At the same time, critiques revealed important limitations, especially around accessibility and the need to strengthen the relationship between concept and visual outcome. Even so, the project was deeply valuable: working within real constraints and receiving critical feedback gave me a much clearer understanding of adaptive reuse and helped shape a new direction for my future design work.
1/8":1'
1/4":1'
MATERIALS COLLAGE
CONCEPT SKETCH
DIAGRAMS AND ANALYSIS
EXISTING CONDITIONS
2018
