Function should follow form: Futures for the radiant logic of Carnegie public libraries

At the turn of the Twentieth century, the steel magnate Andrew Carnegie supported the construction of over 2800 public libraries, across Britain and America at a time of disruptive technological change. Although designed by different architects, the common influence over the procurement of these buildings had a significant impact upon the standardisation of the public library typology. Specifically, economic design strategies with respect to light for public interiors were iteratively refined. Both spatial arrangements and socio-functional rules associated with increasing access to knowledge were developed. This study builds on previous work to present a multidimensional analysis of a set of Carnegie library buildings and aims to foster the potential for their collective radiant logic to endure. The relations between formal features and intangible properties, in terms of their latent shared identity, will be analysed using both space syntax and luminance mapping in an attempt to derive indicators for decision-making. This study is part of an AHRC funded research project aiming to investigate the potential for standard elements of Carnegie libraries to be adapted and rehabilitated so developing efficient methods for conservation practice.