FOOTPATH

LIBRARY

• JONATHAN GOH •

B

eside a well-worn West End

footpath in Brisbane, a community

book depository has settled in the

dappled shade of a tulipwood tree.

Designed by Brisbane architect Jonathan

Goh and constructed by carpenter Evan

Goldsmith, the Ryan Street Footpath

Library represents an architect’s take on

the self-appointed challenge to design a

front yard book exchange. The timber-

framed, fibreglass-clad footpath folly

houses an assortment of books and games

for children and adults as a means to

encourage small-scale knowledge-sharing

An intriguing exploration of geometric

tension and a lesson in craftsmanship

and materiality, this piece of miniature

architecture also effectively encourages

small-scale knowledge sharing.

Words by Michelle Bailey

Photography by

Christopher Frederick Jones

in this tight-knit Brisbane neighbourhood.

Intrigued by the spatial opportunities

of the cube and drum observed in buildings

such as the Stockholm Public Library

designed by Swedish architect Gunnar

Asplund, Jonathan set out to explore the

possibilities of employing pure, opposing

forms through a series of square and circle

motifs set within an orthogonal structural

grid. The square object, asserted by the

roof canopy, is reinforced by the central

void carved out by the square edges of

bookshelves. Circular elements emerge

in tension with these, namely the curved

outer edges of the same shelves and the

semicircular sweep of translucent walls

beyond. Suspended from the ceiling,

a convex mirror reflects the circular

shape of the concrete floor below,

simultaneously offering a lens through

which the whole interior appears reflected

in distorted curvature.

More than an exercise in form and

pattern-making, the structure offers

lessons in materiality and craftsmanship

as it weaves together timber, fibreglass and

brass with restraint, beauty and skill. Solid

ironbark timbers establish the rational,

structural frame braced by the integrated

bookshelves semi-enclosing three sides.

Translucent fibreglass sheets, held between

vertical timbers, create the soft, billowing

skin, reminiscent of the curved pages of a

book caught in a breeze. The sailing roof,

also fibreglass and translucent, registers

light and shade, capturing the organic

forms of leaf and branch cast in shadow

from above. Brass edging neatly finishes

the composition, bestowing a civic quality

upon this small yet assertive piece of

public architecture.

As a study in design, the Ryan Street

Footpath Library delves deeply, referencing

historical archetypes as much as it does

local contemporary architecture. More than

a sophisticated piece of street furniture, it

is an object finely tuned to its setting, the

ergonomics of the human body and the

scale of the book. It is difficult to imagine

a more interesting exercise in miniature

architecture or a more genuine contribution

to the life of a suburban street.

01

02

POSTSCRIPT

01 The library features a

series of square and

circular motifs in tension

with one another.

02 A hanging convex mirror

offers a distorted view of

the Ryan Street Footpath

Library in Brisbane.