Russ the Bus

Localización / Location: Sydney, Australia (2015)
Arquitectos / Architects: LAVA (http://www.l-a-v-a.net)
Fotografías / Images: Alphonsus Fok, Prudence Upton

Russ the Bus es una biblioteca móvil diseñada por LAVA para el evento 2015 Children’s Festival of Moving Stories in Sydney, perteneciente al Sydney Writers’ Festival, y se utilizará también en el 2016.

Russ the Bus is a mobile library and book exchange designed by LAVA for the Sydney Writers’ Festival for its 2015 Children’s Festival of Moving Stories in Sydney. The bus will also make appearances throughout next year, including at the Sydney Writers’ Festival at Walsh Bay in May 2016.

TEXTO COMPLETO / FULL TEXT

Cuatro mil niños de 28 escuelas han tenido acceso a los cientos de libros alojados en este viejo autobús reciclado. Para acondicionarlo se han dispuesto una serie de costillas de madera contrachapada con las que se han configurado las estanterías y los asientos.

En el interior se ha optado por el color y se ha buscado también que sea práctico, resistente y económico.

Se ha tratado que todos los accesorios y conexiones tengan un diseño flexible para moverse con el autobús cuando se desplaza, y que los libros estén sujetos.

El proyecto se desarrolló en tan sólo 4 meses. Para combinar diversión y funcionalidad, LAVA ha utilizado una geometría fluida que le ha permitido fusionar cuatro espacios: zona del conductor, multimedia, biblioteca y lounge. Se ha utilizado software de modelado 3d para crear esta volumetría y su despiece.

Las 580 piezas de madera contrachapada se han obtenido mediante una máquina de corte CNC y se montaron como si se tratase de un rompecabezas gigante.

Mediante estas costillas de madera se crean estantes, asientos, espacio de almacenamiento, mostradores y expositores.

Rematados con alegres colores, los perfiles curvados fluyen por paredes, suelo y techo, convirtiéndose estructura y ornamento en un solo elemento.

Russ the Bus is a mobile library and book exchange designed by LAVA for the SydneyWriters’ Festival for its 2015 Children’s Festival of Moving Stories in Sydney.

The bus will also make appearances throughout next year, including at the Sydney Writers’ Festival at Walsh Bay in May 2016.

Four thousand kids from 28 schools immersed themselves in hundreds of books housed in the refitted bus, an immersive space of plywood ribs. “We found Russ in a bus ‘graveyard’ and brought it back to life. Out came the seats and in went 125 plywood shelves and 60 metres of shelving,” said Chris Bosse, director of LAVA.

“We designed the space as a fun environment to bring books alive for children of all ages. It’s a long way from the school bus of our childhoods!” “We had to create a colourful space for kids, one that involved discovery. It had to accommodate 20 excited kids and keep them engaged. And it had to be practical, hardwearing and economical. All the fittings and connections had to be flexible to move with the bus when it was on the road. And the books securely fixed for those bends. Plus it was on a tight time frame of just four months from design to opening.”

Jeanmarie Morosin, Sydney Writers’ Festival, added: "We approached awardwinning architectural firm, LAVA, to see if they’d be up for the challenge of converting a bus into a library. The design needed to put the fun in functional and we needed it to overcome challenges like books flying all over the place when the bus was in motion.” “We had seen the amazing job LAVA had done on the headquarters of the Sydney Story Factory [the Martian Embassy] and we knew they’d be up for the challenge. After many, many discussions we had a design we all loved." To achieve this design LAVA used a fluid geometry to merge four spaces – Driver’s zone, Multimedia, Library and Lounge areas. A computer model was sliced and ‘nested’ into buildable components. 580 pieces of CNC-cut plywood were put together like a giant puzzle.

The timber ribs create shelves, seats, benches, storage, counters and displays. Edged with coloured strips, the curvy plywood flows seamlessly so that walls, ceiling and floor, space, structure and ornament, become one element. Russ the Bus visited the outer suburbs of Sydney as part of the 2015 Children’s Festival of Moving Stories, which featured free events for children and schools.