Mexican architect Alberto Kalach‘s “books as great ark of knowledge” concept was selected from more than 500 proposals. Described by coolhunting.com writer, Laura Nielson, it is “an outstanding example of a contemporary digital-age library, not to mention a significant display of Mexico’s modern architectural movement”. She goes on to say:

“Dedicated to José Vasconcelos, one of the country’s most influential minds of the early twentieth century, the library originally opened in May 2006 but was temporarily shuttered in March 2007 due to structural complications. After 19 months of renovations and reconstruction, the main building and its surrounding campus, including a cafeteria, bookshop, exhibition space, a 500-seat auditorium and a botanical garden, reopened to the public. Juxtaposed against the old-town environs of its Santa Maria LaRibera district, Biblioteca Vasconcelos is a 36,000 square-meter (400,000 square-feet) glass and metal behemoth, containing over half a million books-with a capacity to expand upwards to 1.5 million-and 750 computers.”

I love the transparency of space and use of glass to channel natural light into the stereotypically “dark and dusty” book stacks. In most libraries, our concept of collection size is confined to an aisle or two. Here, it seems the entire collection is visible from nearly any standpoint, which converts abstract circulation and collection statistics into tangible, visible evidence. The interior space itself reveals just how vast Biblioteca Vasconcelos’ resources really are. And the varying spaces between floors seems to emulate the visual “rise and fall” of book sizes once they’re shelved together.

I found these large-scale interior photos at Wikipedia. Pretty incredible.

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