A library of the mind

In order to adapt to the explosion of technology and information, our culture has organized knowledge into distinct categories, and has privileged the “known” as the ideal truth. While this reductionist approach allows us to efficiently examine a specific topic, it has also led to a fragmented and oversimplified understanding of an otherwise enigmatic world. Umberto Eco, semiotician and novelist, criticized this rigid categorization and preferred a more complex, labyrinthine system, organizing his personal ad-hoc collection of books into unconventional categories. Venice, the labyrinthine city, is a physical manifestation of the concept of non-linearity and becomes a metaphor and strategy for exploring the idea of mystery and the dérive. The thesis explores the themes of slow reading, serendipity, and mystery, through the design of a Research Library that brings together Eco’s collection.