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BIBLIOTECA
Dialogue and contrast between new and old.
City
Madrid, Spain
Program
Cultural
Type
Open competition (1st prize)
Year
2023
Status
Built
Client
Ayuntamiento de Los Molinos
Photography
Luis Díaz Díaz

Los Molinos library is part of an ambitious project framed in a public competition won by estudio DIIR in 2018. The main desire of the project lies in adapting the entire complex – a former school group – to the needs of the present.

Thus, what was formerly conceived to accommodate a specific program, completely changes its use. The playground becomes a public square, the classrooms a cultural center or, as in this project, the former teachers’ dormitories become a municipal library.

At the time of the intervention, the entire second floor is used in order to incorporate this space to the cultural activity of the building. A new communication core is designed with a semicircular shape attached to the building in the center of the configuration.

Coinciding with the arrival area, a welcoming space is proposed that tops the semicircle and builds its contour by means of a wooden bench. From this point, the user connects with a kind of large corridor, which acts as a backbone, and gives access to each of the rooms.

All this strip is covered with a wooden paneling that gives presence and seems to emphasize the access to each of the programs. The warmth of the wood in the vertical surfaces and the colorful red linoleum on certain floors contrast with the neutrality of the rest of the tones.

White covers most of the walls and ceilings.Among the latter, the unique vaulted ceiling stands out.The geometry of this element is enhanced in order to give it the prominence it deserves.

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