We are in a new age where space has extended into alternate dimensions.

The virtual network gives us a higher

degree of freedom and flexibility one that we can experience in mind. The thing that needs to be realized is that
as we move towards the future, the overlapping of the virtual realm with the physical one will be ultimately
indispensible. Its high time for the architects to be in the forefronts of this revolution as instruments of change.
Centuries ago, matter was defined by two dimenions: mass and energy. Today, there comes a third one to it:
information
In the society of the spectacle, Debord claimed that wherever conditions of modern production prevailed, our
lived experiences were replaced by representations. We have become silent spectators to the circumstances
gripping us. I realized from this a space was required where citizens could exercise their right for action and
speech, where people would could gather with no question marks on their entry and use that platform to
acquire knowledge to break the shackles from the society of the spectacle.

Increased individualism due to consumer culture has

resulted in a lack of concern of public realm in todays
contemporary society. They are imprisoned under the
subjectivity of their own singular experience. Increased
individualism due to consumer culture has resulted in the
lack of concern of public realm in todays contemporary
society.
By looking at the historical trajectory of how public
spaces have evolved over history, we will realize that how the public sphere transformed due to circumstances
of that time.

Ancient Greece: Greek Agora

European Monarchies
Salons
Tribal Gatherings
Religious Congregations
Today, the public sphere has crossed all physical limitations and manifested itself to media

The internet is arguably the most important tool of contemporary communication where it has produced a public
sphere which in theory has granted access to every individual. In todays world, communication is easier than it
ever was. The internet is the product of convergence of communication technologies. Having said that, our
contemporary society has been subjected to commercial imperatives of advertising, entertainment and social
media; our social relations are devoid of interactive practice which was considered to be at the core of public
sphere.
With the interaction in the virtual realm, most people agree that internet cannot qualify as a successor to
physical public realm even though it has the quality to host communication with a multitude of users at a time.
Face to face interaction is paramount especially when consensus depends on interpersonal trust.

There is a dire need of spaces that provide physical interaction in the city of Lahore that reintroduces the
individual to the concern for communal object.
Public spaces that re-empower the full public
With the decentralized structure of Lahore and its morphology, it would only make sense to choose
deferent sites in Lahore which would express their character according to their own immediate context.
By the invent of internet and the rise of digital public sphere, it is imperative to realize the significance
of face to face interaction to sustain the imagined personalities of cyber space.

Our present society I fragmented from the global network through illiteracy and economic segregation. Parts of
society which can afford internet services can make their global presence felt but a larger chunk of society is
isolated from this global network culture. To open the channels to the network culture to be connected to the
non-connected fragments of the society will liberate historically underprivileged individuals to promote
knowledge, innovation and organization; the primary constituent to provide action and speech.
We need to envisage our institutions to be in the forefront in introducing a new culture of use that reduces the
divide in society. By providing wireless connectivity routed from a central point of physical infrastructure, it
can transcend space and expand access piercing through the massing of walls and into the public realm.
The public library archetype will act as a relevant platform to find its acceptance at the heart of the society as a
suitable way for people to immerse themselves in the knowledge experience.
Internet cafes fulfill their purpose in providing access in the form of scattered nodes of connections netted
periodically in the urban fabric of Lahore. But unfortunately these cafes are not places of learning or interaction
as they are conceived to be spatially individualized. Privatized cubicles render the spatial environment rather
static.
The public library as a civic structure is rich in cultural heritage and historic significance and has always
represented a culture of information access in the Western society. The existing public library in Lahore
however tells a different story. Its membership is limited to post graduate students as the facility is not equipped
to cater a larger population. Also people with pre-determined paths use the facility.
The spaces that seemed to be more effective means of knowledge sharing were the informal spaces that were
accessible to the common man with no apparent spatial barriers.
True public space, the space of architecture is the space of appearance. The architecture of the knowledge
theatre must play with the vitality and coloring of the marketplace to stimulate an urge to consume knowledge,
while transparency and openness must motivate an engagement and curiosity. The spatial experience of the
nodal facility must stimulate a process of debate and questioning, that encourages community and peer
participation.
The library or the modern information center needs to reshape its function and programs according to our local
developing context. It must draw on the concepts of hybrid public functions, creating awareness, social
transparency, public spaces, and social functions as design generators for expressing new ways of thinking
about information. The modern information center must be as comfortable and as social as a marketplace while
still being a place of retreat from urban density living and a place of introspection.
Moreover, these shared spaces need to embed themselves in the rich cultural history so that people can at large
create a sense of ownership with these.

The knowledge factory constructs a new public identity where emphasis is given on knowledge, experience,
access and exploration. It acts as meeting place for scheduled encounters and chance meetings.
As architects reassemble the functions of the library for an information age, spaces and functions of a library
must become hybrids of virtual, real and social experiences. Just like the traditional agora or the public square
hosted performances, public protests, debates and places of communication, the role of a library today needs to
simultaneously assert itself as a symbol of access, and as a center of exploration and activity.