The Center for Fiction | 2015-2019

Brooklyn, New York, United States

Architects: BKSK Architects, New York, New York, United States
Developer: Jonathan Rose Companies, New York, New York, United States
Client:The Center for Fiction. Brooklyn, New York, United States
Photographers:Michelle Rose

The Center for Fiction’s (CFF) new headquarters offers 17,000 sf of resource-rich space to literary professionals and enthusiasts. Programming included housing a circulating collection of more than 100,000 fiction titles, a bookstore, café, flexible auditorium space, a writer’s studio, expandable rooms for discussion groups, workspaces and administrative support space. First established as the Mercantile Library, a lending library for merchant clerks in 1820 in Lower Manhattan, the Center occupied several locations before landing in Midtown in 1932. In 2008, the organization renamed itself the Center for Fiction, and in 2019 reopened in its current location occupying three floors of a new residential tower. Sustainable best practices guided the design, materials and furniture selection and support the target of LEED-CI (Commercial Interiors) certification which is expected in 2019. The design vision marries two fundamental ideas to the Center’s mission: honor the historic roots and legacy of service to its members and integrate technology and amenities. This is achieved in a way that welcomes a new diverse audience. It was essential to connect to the community and establish a high-quality “third place” for work, research and inspiration outside the home or office. The architecture inspired by stories celebrates transparency and scale, which is traditional yet of its time, simultaneously grand and intimate. The Center is designed to support and celebrate the art of fiction - of telling stories that connect people.

A challenge of the modern library is the attitude and philosophy towards the book collection in a digital age. We decided with the client that this space would celebrate physical books, text and art. Visitors delight in being surrounded by stories, to smell the paper and aimlessly browse. The stacks become a graphic thread connecting all spaces - wall stacks holding the collection appear in almost every room, and quotes from the collection are enlarged and painted on key accent walls. Elements and objects from the CFF’s previous home(s) also were preserved, integrated, and replicated folding into the new space plan. In addition to tapping into the base building’s sustainable features, the Center incorporates custom locally fabricated furniture, and metalwork, including café tables engraved with literary quotes, a bench made of books and a graphic signage system inspired by bookplates from the Center’s collection. The public-facing ground floor advertises with a large neon sign by Lite Brite Neon, a Gowanus, Brooklyn-based neon studio. At the largest scale, each floor is designed as a distinct experience visible through large glazed portions of the façade. Endless tall bookshelves line the walls and announce the Center’s presence to the neighborhood and acknowledge the cultural largeness of the surrounding Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) buildings. We implemented transparency in material choice to reveal the upper floors, and to help guide visitors through the Center’s many spaces. The industrial-grade full-floor shelving system exemplifies creative and efficient solutions to meet our institutional client’s budget. The new Center serves as a model for long-established organizations to reinvigorate their presence in a new neighborhood. Its addition to the cultural district allows it to reach a larger audience, enhances access to literature, art, associated talks and programming and reinforces the creative neighborhood culture.

The new Center also demonstrates how a traditional organization can revitalize itself– the architecture and interiors reflect a gravitas that matches the organization’s history and passion for fiction literature - the modern interpretation of a traditional space seamlessly adapts to new surroundings. Special moments like the red floor of the crime fiction collection resemble the Center’s previous home. Maintaining familiar characteristics was a key focus of our design. Blending original objects, fixtures and details of previous Center homes with an overlay of technology increases capacity, flexibility and offers contemporary capabilities. New spaces like the podcast studio support the Center’s mission to evolve beyond the space’s physical boundaries. The Center shared: “The Center’s interior design doesn’t just inspire our members and customers; it’s positively influenced the staff’s productivity and morale. In short, the gorgeous building makes (our staff) want to work harder in our mission to promote storytelling in all forms.”