The master's programme in architecture constantly raises the subject of "positioning": How do we position ourselves as designers? How should architecture place itself in a broader environment? The graduation studio of Interiors Buildings Cities focuses on "Palace", referring to complex public interiors whose societal responsibilities are constantly re-interpreted over time. This project on the Stockholm City Library, in particular, urges us to reconsider the meaning of "libraries" as public spaces today – and in the future – and challenges us to adopt such transformation concerning Asplund's architectural legacy.

This also raises the question of how we, as future architects, deal with the past, present, and future.

The previous competition's intricacy emerged from the architecture and competing interests among the library institution, the municipality, and other political bodies. This project, therefore, seeks to form an opinion on how we treat a heritage building. This is especially relevant for architects nowadays because we need to know what to do with the old to build new. Sustainbility of architecture regards not only the tangible aspects but also the intangible ones. Adding another layer of time, therefore, gives the existing heritage building a new life. Yet, we must be aware that our current architectural proposal may not be, and will never be, the ultimate solution.

Just as a library holds books reflecting layers of human knowledge across time, its architecture bears traces of interpretation from different generations. I think that is the charm of this architectural intervention.

Throughout history, women’s emancipation has affected architectural designs. Collective or communal buildings for women on their own have been documented at least since medieval times. Yet, in China’s Canton region, a unique women-only building typology has remained unfamiliar to the general public. The Aunt’s Houses refer to communal buildings for self-combed women – a group of women who tied their hair up as a vow of never marrying. Originating in the 1880s, this custom was distinctive to China’s Canton Delta. It thrived with the region’s silk economy development (1900-1930) and eventually faded towards the end of the 20th century alongside the modern country’s reformation. As a place to accompany and support each other, the Aunt’s Houses were the retreat for self-combed women after rebelling against the patriarchal society. Bing Yu Tang – “The Hall of Purity” – is the best-preserved case of such houses. Completed in 1951 in Shunde, Canton, the Hall of Purity was initiated by around 400 self-combed women as their collective retirement home. It was converted into a museum in 2012, along with the passing of the last generation of these women. Based on primary sources gathered from the field visit to the Hall of Purity, including contemporary and historical images and survey data, as well as archival images and literature, this history thesis takes The Hall of Purity as a case study and explores the uniqueness of self-combed women and their communal living places from its origin in the 1880s until its diminishment between the 1980-2010s. Through material and symbolic lenses of architecture, this thesis aims to document and comprehend the reasons behind self-combed women’s formation and the significance of architecture in the women’s community.