Kansai Kan

As electronics effortlessly deliver the knowledge preciously “stored” in libraries to a public anywhere; they inevitably dissolve the apparent need for this knowledge to be embodied in a single physical space, in architecture, in “a” library.

Kansai offers evidence of this ambiguity/transformation – its location is more isolated than expected for a National Library and its program contains less public accommodation than tradition suggests – it is clear that most of its performance will be disseminated through electronic media, less through human visits.

To remain relevant, architecture has to resolve this dilemma: to disappear into Cyberspace or to define what is public in a new way.