Biblioteca Vasconcelos

Eje 1 Norte, Venustiano Carranza, Ciudad de México, Mexico

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Biblioteca Vasconcelos

Eje 1 Norte, Venustiano Carranza, Ciudad de México, Mexico

Firm

Alberto Kalach

Type

Educational › Library

YEAR

2007

SIZE

1,000,000 +

The project integrates the public library with a botanical garden. A 250 meter steel, concrete and glass structure surrounded by greenery and water.  The design is based in four fundamental considerations :  1.- Mexico City is one of the largest, most polluted and agresive urban environments in the planet. We believe that the planning of public funded buildings should always encourage the expansion of car-free open spaces and greenery.  2.- The specific area where the project was built was a barren urban landscape  3.- The buildings and gardens generate a new pole of urban ecological regeneration that expands over a densely populated area.  4.- The library is itself an attempt at reorganizing available human knowledgeThe Botanical Garden houses a comprehensive array of Mexico's endemic flora. Culture and nature, often on opposing sides, form a unity in which the visitor can reconcile their co-existence. The reading areas offer the user an opportunity for experimenting direct contact with nature. All areas profit from natural lighting and ventilation. The library is a great ship that navigates through time enveloped in a garden that´s always itself and always new.