Sometimes we get our best ideas from pop culture, am I right? So it seems only natural that someone would eventually look to Doctor Who for some real-life inspiration.
That’s exactly what Dan Zemke did when he decided to build a free library in Detroit inspired by the TARDIS, the time machine and spacecraft from the hit TV show.
Zemke wanted to do something with the empty lot that sits across the street from his Detroit home, so he decided to build the free library modeled after the TARDIS because he was already planning on building a replica of the time machine anyway.
Zemke completed the final product with the assistance of his father and TARDIS Builders, an online forum that helps people build Doctor Who props. It stands roughly 10 feet tall and weighs almost 2,000 pounds.
Zemke says about his TARDIS library,
“When you open the doors of the TARDIS, it reveals a large mural [painted by local artist Jennifer Maiseloff] that shows the inside of the TARDIS from the TV show. It looks like the inside of a large spaceship, more or less. I wanted to give the person coming to the library a sense that they’re looking inside the TARDIS. When you slide open the mural panels, it reveals a collection of books that anyone from the neighborhood can take or leave a book of their own.”
“It’s been awesome to see an empty lot in the city transform into a place where kids and families want to spend time. I love that we’re getting more books in the hands of our neighbors and the schools nearby. Plus, we get to see just how many Whovians are in Metro Detroit too!”
