Biblioteca Vasconcelos: A Look Inside Mexico City’s Jaw-Dropping Modern Library

When you arrive at Biblioteca Vasconcelos, you’d never guess that an architectural marvel hides just inside. Yet just beyond this busy street corner lies the crown jewel of Mexico City modern architecture. This towering, concrete building looks like any Brutalist public structure from the outside. It takes up so much space — 409,000 square feet! — that locals have nicknamed it a “megalibrary.” Step inside, and you enter every book lover and architecture buff’s personal heaven.

Must-Sees at Biblioteca Vasconcelos

The public library sits in the Buenavista neighborhood, a bit north of Mexico City downtown. Since it opened to the public in 2006, Biblioteca Vasconcelos has become a pilgrimage spot for design nerds and readers alike. The impressive building was designed by iconic Mexican architect Alberto Kalach, and you can tell. Make sure not to miss:

The Bookshelves: The shelves are suspended high off the ground floor, making it seem like they’re floating up seven stories. The result is a visual feast, with over 600,000 multicolored books stretching up and out, as far as you can see. Yes, you can read them all.

The Views: On the sides of the building, cozy nooks provide gorgeous views of the library itself, and balconies let you see the downtown skyline in the distance. Make sure to go all the way upstairs for the best views both inside and out.

The Whale Sculpture: In the lobby, the beauty continues with the sculpture “Mátrix Móvil,” a huge whale skeleton floating in the air, by Veracruzan sculptor Gabriel Orozco.

The Garden: Just outside, a lovely botanical garden provides much-needed green space, contrasting beautifully with the library’s clean, modern lines. The vast garden boasts 168 different native Mexican plant species.

How to Visit Biblioteca Vasconcelos

Because it’s at a hub of public transport, it’s easy to get to from nearly anywhere in the center city. It’s completely free to visit, and if you’re Mexico resident, you can apply for a library card to check things out! The only method I wouldn’t strongly recommend is walking, especially if you’re coming from the center. The library is in a busy, fairly safe area, but you’d have to pass through some riskier zones to get there.

By Car: You can easily visit the library in your own car or in Uber/cab; it’s just a 15 minute drive from the center. There’s free parking available underground, and plenty of Ubers pass through the area.

By Bus: Lucky for you, the Buenavista Station is just outside the library. You can take Metrobus Lines 1 and 4 and arrive with ease.

By Train: Line B of the Mexico City Metro also goes straight to Buenavista Station. You can connect with this line on the more central Lines 1, 3, 4, and 8.

About the Architect

Alberto Kalach is a giant in modern Mexican architecture. After a global contest, the Mexican government chose him to design the library in 2003. Mexico City’s intense urbanism inspires Kalach’s work, which focuses on innovative architecture that fits into the city’s complicated, ever-changing landscape. He’s fascinated by the capital’s Venice-like past as an Aztec canal city, and participates in the “Vuelta a la ciudad lacustre” (Return to the City of Lakes) urban project.

When Kalach won the library contest, alongside architects Gustavo Lipkau, Juan Palomar, and Tonatiuh Martínez, he had a unique vision for Biblioteca Vasconcelos. He wanted it to be much more than a library: a megabuilding, a cultural center, a botanical garden, a city landmark. Kalach imagined a space that would provide refuge for residents in this gritty, dense neighborhood and beyond.

The results are truly amazing. Kalach and his collagues accomplished everything they set out to do, and more — they created a truly sustainable, 21st Century-relevant space. I was stunned by my first visit to Biblioteca Vasconcelos. It’s hands down one of the most incredible contemporary examples of Mexico City architecture. And best of all, rather than being just a showpiece for people to snap photos, the building is an extremely useful and welcoming library. It’s a fantastic place to study, work, and of course, read a book. The library is always bustling with local residents, from families with kids to hyper-focused grad students, and they’ve all made this remarkable work of art their own.

The Library’s Wild History

It might seem like such a beloved, world-renowned building would have a simple success story. In reality, Biblioteca Vasconcelos’s history is much more complicated. In the early 2000s, the new administration of Mexican President Vicente Fox proposed modernizing the library system around the country. They decided to build an impressive new library in Mexico City.

The project’s organizers named the planned library after José Vasconcelos, a hero of the Mexican Revolution and promoter of education and culture in Mexico. Vasconcelos fought during the 1910s-20s Mexican Revolution, and became the first Secretary of Public Education under the victors’ government.

After years of construction, the Fox administration finally inaugurated Biblioteca Vasconcelos in 2006. But just a few months later, in March 2007, the government shuttered the building! Inspectors found irregularities throughout the building, including the misplacement of important marble columns. As is common in Mexican public projects, Fox’s government had rushed construction and pushed the library’s inauguration forward, so the outgoing presidential administration could impress before the 2006 elections. This likely caused the errors, and the next government needed to spent USD $3 million to fix them. After almost two years, they actually finished the building, and opened to the public in 2008. Despite this troubled history, I’m sure glad the spectacular library is open today.