Upon visiting the Gothenburg library, a few impressions stole the attention of our group. The following are those that inspired us to create the prototype:
- The architecture is typical for the fifties with a square, slightly "communistic" style with sparse use of colors, and dominating elements of stone i different ways, hard coated wood, and glass, creating a cold, municipal and unfriendly environment
- The modern technology is not well integrated in the environment, wires are exposed and gives a messy feeling. Despite the fact that computers have been used for media searching in the library for more than a decade, they are still poorly integrated in the environment and seem temporary.
- A thought hit us while we tried to borrow the course book (which of course wasn't there): The absence of a resource is represented only by its absence.
The last item was the most inspiring as a main function, and thus we decided to build a prototype around it. The other two ideas were integrated into the concept of illuminating absence and gave us the foundations of its design.