Portable
Reading Rooms

The project is bold in its presentation, visual content and use of color. It is positively striking to the eye and offers a strong variation from the typical project submission. The benefit of a four-sheet competition submission for such a small-scale project allows some flexibility for the information conveyed - there are ways to provide the content needed for a jury to evaluate the proposal without being busy, and this presentation does just that. On the contrary the second sheet consists of a single rendered image that is void of text or numeric annotation, and consequently appears unfinished as if an opportunity to convey detailed data about the project was missed. Proposals should take advantage of each image to convey as much information as possible without overwhelming the reader. Such information can add complexity and detail that allows a reader to study the visual in depth. 

The project makes use of a variety of layouts which are similar enough in nature to provide consistency but which appear to lack an overall guiding organizational principle, and therefore are vaguely disorienting to navigate. It is excellent that the authors have divided the text on all sheets to continue the story and its explanation across the presentation, though the text is rather wordy and could be better summarized. The line drawings are virtually all of a single line weight and thus lack hierarchy. The use of colored imagery is, however, outstanding and provides a great deal of contrast to the sheets, lending them balance and details for the reader to digest with each review. 

The presentation makes excellent use of limited materiality - in this case, wood - which stands out against the otherwise white field of the sheets. The visuals are outstanding and successfully capture a reader's attention for their uniqueness. They also successfully explain the project’s capacity to take the form of many sites and urban situations. But the layout is underdeveloped and so varied that it appears as if it may have been completed by several different authors. The final sheet includes a single off-center rendering which appears incomplete and requires informative text or annotative descriptions to lend more detail to the visual. The sheets are inconsistent in their background color which may be considered visually disturbing.

The all-linework presentation uses strong blues and reds to achieve a series of bold and consistent images. Its introductory page is striking and followed by an advanced site plan which communicates the intent for the small project to influence its urban surroundings. Simple diagrams are mixed with complex sections and how-to drawings which dynamically describe the project’s construction process. The presentation would benefit from a clearer description of its materials (what is the translucent red capsule supported by?) but otherwise excellently communicates the project’s spatial experience and dimensions with the use of annotation and human scale figures. 

The project is simple in its design and layout. While its mix of sophisticated, colorful drawings and sketches is to be commended, the presentation would benefit from a more consistent layout that clearly guides a reader through each sheet. It would also benefit from a reduction of its long-winded text which jurors may only read after having decided the project is interesting enough to examine in detail. Finally, such a project which is so focused on a single typical detail would benefit from the inclusion of a construction-level, convincing description of how the project materials are fastened and cut to form the all-important joint.