Mapping the Future of New York City’s Public Libraries

Grain’s Sapna Advani was tapped to join an interdisciplinary group of designers charged with articulating a vision for the future of New York City’s public libraries – all 207 branches of them. Competing with other teams to develop a winning solution, their proposal went beyond design and architecture to address storytelling and branding, creating a strategy to both boost awareness of a valuable city resource and attract the funding to help it thrive. The final concept — based on the idea that modest but creative actions taken today can have a transformative impact down the road – was shared in a public forum sponsored by the Center for an Urban Future and the Architecture League of New York.