The Biblioteca Parque España, designed by the architect Giancarlo Mazzanti, stands in its rock-like trio form on the edge of a hill overlooking Medellin, the second largest city in Colombia. Mazzanti’s biophilic design in such a setting provides visitors to the library with a beautiful vista onto below while offering the residents of the city down the hill a natural and contextual backdrop. All this reflects Edward O. Wilson's claim that human beings possess an innate and evolutionarily based affinity for nature. A thing that could be considered as one of the reasons why the Biblioteca improved Medellín and the whole Santo Domingo Savio area since the project's completion in August 2007, successfully playing its role as part of the ongoing Colombian initiative of promoting libraries in the country.
The three boulders forming the Biblioteca are made of reinforced steel and are covered with black slate with 30% oxide. Mazzanti's vision of creating an extension of the mountain, pushed him to shape every facet of the rock-like building to resemble rock formations using both sharp and soft edges where the different faces meet, and randomly locating the windows, to give the effect of natural, contaminated rocks. Upon closer inspection, silvery patches appear scattered at random on the façade. Surprisingly one will also notice that the rough façade is only a thin layer which from the inside can be seen to be held by steel bars from the building's main structure, thus separating the skin from the true structural bones of the building and highlighting once again the nature-based design concepts Mazzanti followed.
Within this thin layer the Biblioteca contains the cultural and social facilities of a library, a community centre and a cultural centre, all within its 3 boulders of different heights joined together by a platform. Providing the community with different functions such as an auditorium, computer rooms, daycare services, art galleries, a museum, pedagogic areas and viewpoint platforms, all covering an area of 10 thousand squared kilometres. Creating this life within a rock required a contradicting appearance than that seen from the outside, so Mazzanti worked with white and green paint, pale woods and other green glazed surfaces which, when combined with the natural light coming through the building’s thin rockish skin, creates an inviting and friendly space.
The Biblioteca has not only elevated the cultural status of Medellín, but also its environmental problem, as its position on top of the hill, with its steel and concrete structure acting as a retaining wall, protects the houses below from what were once frequent landslides. Access to the project is made possible by cable cars, accentuating the sensation of floating upwards towards the hilltop.
The Biblioteca Parque España could only be described as an explosion of its rocky and mountainous context, creating what is seen as a continuation of the landscape below, yet still maintaining a level of contrast that could distinguish it from its surroundings. An iconic form, resembling the Athenian Acropolis, the Biblioteca is there for anyone who wishes to raise their eyes towards the sky, and dream of a better future than that witnessed in the dark times of the past Medellin Cartel War.
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