Book Fair Pavilion
Architects
Sol89. María González and Juanjo López de la Cruz
Client
Ayuntamiento de Madrid
Infographies
C_Factory – Luis Cuenca
Publishing houses store thousands of volumes destined for incineration due to printing errors, translation mistakes, or lack of sales (“Coded Library”, El País newspaper, December 2007). For the pavilion project, we propose the acquisition and temporary reprieve of these copies which, much like in Borges’ Library of Babel, will construct a temple of books. Books that contain stories and, when eventually recycled, will host new ones rewritten upon them—thus extending the life of the book. It is no coincidence that in Bradbury’s story Fahrenheit 451, books are the element marked for destruction, as they are the material symbol of knowledge. This material condition of the book, as a cultural fetish, evokes powerful images of full libraries whose shelves resemble walls of books that shape the space. The project seeks to draw on this material quality of the book—like in the work of Slovak artist Matej Krén—a series of reprieved books form thick walls that define the space and create a welcoming, colourful environment that establishes a deeper relationship with the El Retiro park as seen through the stacks of books.
