DUB 002
Following from the dispiriting failures of 001, 002 proved to be more successful, and not only because of it’s pumpkin orange color, but because it wasn’t cleared of books within 6 hours and the empty shelves themselves weren’t removed after 10 days. I attribute this mostly to an adjustment of tactics and location. Every block has its own subtleties and micro-urban climates, one block is boarded up with for “rent signs” while the next is a thriving pocket of activities and street-level engagement. By moving to a location 8 blocks further south, 002 was placed nearer to a major thoroughfare – 96th street – and received a more steady stream of mixed pedestrian traffic leaving the express train stop on Broadway and by virtue of being closer to street level retail (a large CVS), educational (a school and church) as well as the residential apartments along 97th street. 001 just didn’t get enough foot traffic and frankly felt deserted. I thought being near a hostel and school would generate some interest, but the hostel is an imposing Victorian Gothic structure with a decidedly prison-like bent reflecting its previous use as a nursing home for “Respectable, Aged and Indigent Females” and unsurprisingly generates little sidewalk traffic and even less urge to stop and inspect some books in a phone booth.
In an attempt to encourage sharing and free distribution of the initial selection of books, I didn’t mark the books in any way. But in lieu of the entire initial selection of 001′s books being carted off within a few hours, I tested out being more explicit and treating the books more like a library. Almost like a Dewey decimal number taped to the spine of a library book, I added a visible logo to the bottom of each spine. I hoped this would prevent the books from easily winding up in the hands of sidewalk book resellers, but I fear that the marking implies an ownership that prevents a casual exchange of taking and leaving their own books. I observed a number of people reach out and pick up a book, flip through it, but then return it to the shelf. Some even doubled back for a second look and to engage in a closer inspection of the shelves, but they still refrained from actually taking a book. Perhaps feeling hesitant to, I don’t know, steal/vandalize (irony) something that’s out in public? I can see how there might be a stigma there, to not just keep walking straight along the sidewalk with your head down, but to stop and engage with the street. I intentionally wanted to avoid any directions, like a sign that would say something along the lines of “hey this is for sharing books, you can leave some here” and I still want to avoid anything that seems overtly prescriptive, but after seeing people hesitate when confronted with 002, perhaps there is a more subtle way to gently describe an intended use.
Even as they are rendered obsolete by the ubiquity of smartphones, I’m interested in pay phones because they are both anachronistic and quotidian. Relics, they’re dead technology perched on the edge of obsolescence, a skeuomorph hearkening back to a lost shared public space we might no longer have any use for. Something to be nostalgic for, in the way I can’t think about a phone booth without conjuring up images of an old, impatient woman banging on the door to one while I was inside using a calling card to ask for money. And of course they are nuisance, basically pedestrian level billboards that only blight certain neighborhoods (good luck finding a payphone in Tribeca, while there are eight separate phone kiosks on one block between 108th and 109th streets and Columbus Ave). But they can also be a place of opportunity, something to reprogram and somewhere to come together and share a good book with your neighbors.
All the books were donated by local residents and the plywood was milled by Kontraptionist.
EDIT FEB 21, 2012: Hi folks, if you’re reading this and you’re interested in getting involved, get in touch!
July 12th, 2011 at 11:54 pm
Круто. Добавлю блог в избранное и друзьям посоветую. Ждите новых читателей
September 21st, 2011 at 10:13 am
[...] something to reprogram and somewhere to come together and find a good book with your neighbors. http://gracefulspoon.com/blog/2011/07/06/dub-002/ Share this:FacebookDruckenGefällt mir:LikeSei der Erste, dem dieser post gefällt. Dieser [...]
February 16th, 2012 at 9:01 am
[...] idea from NY architect John Locke, who designed this slot-together plywood shelf unit to hang over the standard public telephone kiosk without fasteners or other alterations to the [...]
February 16th, 2012 at 9:22 am
Why not add some typography to the center, or sides that says something simple like “give and take”. This would clearly Perhaps also install a stamp, corded securely to the shelves with the DUB logo to help with the reselling problem?
I really like this project. I think that it would work very well where I live, in Northampton, Ma, which has a healthy amount of foot traffic, bookshops, cafes, and art galleries.
Well done!
February 16th, 2012 at 9:22 am
oops. *This would clear up any confusion about ownership*
February 16th, 2012 at 11:32 am
[...] idea from NY architect John Locke, who designed this slot-together plywood shelf unit to hang over the standard public telephone kiosk without fasteners or other alterations to the [...]
February 17th, 2012 at 10:56 am
[...] perfetto per il book crossing. Un’idea già testata a Londra, ma sicuramente più immediata, Dub002 è costituita da una libreria in compensato ed inserita all’interno del progetto department [...]
February 17th, 2012 at 6:16 pm
[...] Cool idea from New York architect John Locke who has made a phone booths on the upper west side back into use making them libraries where people can put books they longer want or browse used books to catch up on some reading. The Project ‘is part of his department of urban betterment’ ‘ interventionist project called Dub002 [...]
February 17th, 2012 at 8:41 pm
Alaena,
Thanks for your comment. I agree it needs something, I like your idea because it’s pretty subtle, just using a few key words. I had originally been thinking instructions that were more didactic and didn’t like how that felt.
I’ll post the cnc file if anyone wants to cut one of their own, but you might have to adapt for whatever local model of phone kiosk you have in your area.
February 20th, 2012 at 5:34 am
[...] more : . : http://gracefulspoon.com/blog/2011/07/06/dub-002/ [...]
February 20th, 2012 at 5:58 am
[...] [...]
February 21st, 2012 at 2:37 pm
John, I really love this project! It’s a good idea to let people know that they can take the books and either return them or replenish them with others. I appreciate your subtlety in terms of providing minimal directives, but given the diversity of NYC, you really have to spell it out that it’s OK to take the books, even if the taker has no intentions of returning it or adding a new title. There is a fair amount of control that has to be relinquished in any public project. You might consider asking those who living in the vicinity of a bookshelf to “adopt” the booth and replenish it with books that they no longer want. Anyone, really, could adopt and fill the shelves. Seems another [bigger] issue is securing the shelving itself.
Please add me to your mailing list.
Good luck!
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:16 pm
As a retired reading/English teacher who has always loved to read and always encouraged reading with children/teens, i love this idea. Found that in Reading is Fundamental Program that many of the rural children had never owned a book until one was given to them through that program; the children were always so excited to receive a book of their own choosing and your idea encourages adults to start or continue reading in this techie age. Love your ideas!
Kind of sad, though, that people vandalize the old pay phones; and if a person has no cell phone and needs to make a call for an emergency, this really presents a difficulty; hopefully there are still pay phones inside businesses for people to use….
Glad to see so many people interested in this project!
February 23rd, 2012 at 1:51 pm
This has echos of the idea written about in John Holt’s book, Instead of Education http://goo.gl/c9NaN
February 24th, 2012 at 7:53 am
It is very interesting for me to come across your project, for we have a very similar one going on in Porto Alegre, Brazil. For the past 4 years we have been installing bookshelves in abandoned advertising spaces of bus stops for our project called Estante Pública (meaning “public bookshelf” in Portuguese).
What do you think about some experience sharing?
Do you mind if we write about your project in our website, maybe adding a little e-mail interview with you? (www.estantepublica.com.br)
Good bye and keep up the good work.
February 27th, 2012 at 12:47 am
I am very excited to find your work as well as the Estante Publica work being conducted in Brazil. I work with elementary school students and am currently engaging youth in exploring shelter/structure needs in their communities. We are focusing on bus shelters and how they can address public and environmental needs in new ways. Here is our project site: http://www.slotshelters.com/
May I write about your project and share a few images of your work on the Slot Shelters website?
Such thought provoking and inspiring work you are doing!
Corinne Takara
February 27th, 2012 at 10:00 am
Thank you for your comment and of course, please share in any way with your students on your site. What you and the students are doing is no different from how these booths are constructed, it’s just a matter of scale. It’s really inspiring to see the students react to purposeful design in such a positive way. -John
March 1st, 2012 at 11:00 am
John,
I love your idea of communal libraries in phonebooths. I agree they’re obsolete, but also that they can be used for so much more, especially in NYC. I live in Brooklyn, and with the diverse types of neighborhoods, I can imagine several different versions of this type of installation.
Do you ever have anyone to brainstorm ideas or give you perhaps ideas of their own for similar projects on the same scale and with the idea of creating a public community, a larger, diverse group with common ground? I really love your installation, and I hope to be able to share ideas that yours has inspired in me. please let me know if I can.
Have a great day!
Jyssica
jyssica.scott@hotmail.com
March 1st, 2012 at 11:41 am
Hey John,
Is 002 still up or has it been taken down? If it is still up and running, what’s the address? I have a few books I can donate…