Located in the west wing of the “José Vasconcelos” Library in Mexico, the personal library of Carlos Monsiváis is a space where the personal collection created by the writer’s mind is safeguarded for public use.
The architectural project has as a starting point a selection of specific characteristics of Carlos Monsiváis and seeks to translate them into spatial qualities. Order within chaos, is the first impression that inspired the architecture. The second guiding axis is the special relationship the writer had with the city. These two identifiers are interpreted and expressed in a space that generates a tour, guided using blocks that present various alternatives in three dimensions. The user must walk the site to understand it. The intention here is that despite the enclosure, the user may have different perceptions and experiences. The various blocks that generate the tours are formed by sets of bookshelves that vary in dimensions and textures and which generate different shades of color.
The Library was done on two levels. What characterizes the first level is that it offers the possibility of several tours. It also has tight spaces because of the bookshelves that allude to the writer’s original library. The second level instead, follows a circuit that allows an extensive view of the whole space. The different tours converge into two different open areas where one can read the collections. These areas have double height and natural light.
The Library holds several art pieces of Francisco Toledo, renowned painter and sculptor, including the design of the marble floor, who was a close friend of the writer.
All together, the different elements that make up the library seek to help bring the visitor closer to the writer.
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