Libraries have historically been designed around a simple challenge: the storage and preservation of knowledge. Today, however, the digitisation of information, the rise of the internet and, more recently, the public availability of AI have fundamentally transformed the way we access knowledge. The challenge is no longer access itself, but rather the ability to navigate the abundance of information available. At the same time, knowledge has become increasingly commercialised and fragmented across archives, institutions, private collections and digital platforms, often remaining inaccessible to broader public audiences. These developments raise questions about the contemporary role of the library and its relevance within the city.

This graduation project investigates how the contemporary library can be designed as a civic interface for navigating knowledge in an age of informational abundance. This project explores the library not as a repository of information, but as an active mediator between people, knowledge, institutions and the city.
The project is situated at Porta Volta in Milan, a historic gateway into the city. The proposal is composed of three architectural elements: the landscape, the vitrine and the machine. Together they support processes of knowledge exchange and knowledge production. At the core of the building is a visible archive and retrieval system that connects physical collections, digital resources and expert knowledge, making the hidden infrastructure of knowledge accessible to the public.

The project proposes the library as a double interface: between people and increasingly complex knowledge systems, and between fragmented knowledge collections and public engagement. By making the processes behind knowledge visible, the library is redefined as a civic infrastructure for navigating, interpreting and sharing knowledge. ... Read more

The Nahuel Huapi National Park, in the Lake District of Northern Patagonia, Argentina, is well known for its tourism industry all year round. After COVID-19, the area saw a significant increase in the number of tourists traveling to the area. This means that the lake located in the heart of the district, Lago Nahuel Huapi, is being used more and more to explore the environmental richness of the area by boat. Now, the capacity of mooring spaces is no longer sufficient in the region, resulting in the construction of illegal private docks along the shore. To reduce this impact on the environment the authorities granted in 2024 a concession to develop one of the last not yet commercialized marina’s in the region: the marina in Bahía López.

This report provides a consult for the concessionaire of this development. The process begins with a research phase, consisting of an area study, and the mapping of environmental and hydrodynamic constraints. Subsequently, stakeholders are categorized, as the development of a marina in a national park entails complex regulations from multiple organizations. The outcomes of the research phase are translated into specific functional requirements for the marina. These functional requirements are the basis for the next phase, the design phase. This phase begins with the formulation of a design vision statement, formulating the project response to local conditions. Based on this, three different conceptual designs with various technical solutions are developed. Through a multi-criteria analysis, the concepts are tested on their robustness in order to chose a final concept. This concept is then elaborated into a preliminary design. Presenting an overview of the marina’s facilities, including structural designs, operational needs, and capital costs. Finally, suggestions for future development
are provided, outlining the next steps to advance the marina to a next phase.
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