Virtual Platform

For the Seattle Public Library (SPL), the intersection of identity and legibility occurs in the realm of the virtual first.

For many, the first point of contact with the identity of the SPL will be the internet site. It offers a unique opportunity to declare the pleasures and benefits of the new Library, as well as its structure and strengths. The virtual functions also as a training ground - introducing the platform model, the hierarchy, features and formats of the new library, facilitating navigation (and reducing demand on staff) for visitor orientation in the real communities that will regularly 'embody' themselves in the real building.

Real and virtual space are conceived in parallel, as part of the same architecture. The communication strategies that provide access and clarity in the space of the library are mirrored in the virtual platform.