Cultura Bookstore

Project Description

A bookstore with a meeting place.  This was the main premise of the architectural project of the bookstore Livraria Cultura at Iguatemi.  More than merely a place to shop, the store invites one to linger. Our aim was for visitors not only to find the book they may be looking for, but also to spend some time there.
The 7.7-metre entrance has glass and aluminium frames that are entirely recessed, leaving the passage open. On this floor, with more intimate dimensions, one can find the audiovisual products, such as Blu-rays, as well as a café in the garden.  A set of escalators provides access to the entire bookstore, past an intermediate floor that houses toys and comic books – the so-called Geek Space.
Then we arrive at the top floor where there is a large room with tables and club chairs, inviting visitors to leaf through the pages of a book or also used to hold small concerts and lectures. This area leads the visitors to the open mezzanine.
The books encircle the space, supported by eleven large tables arranged orthogonally in the large room and on white stands in the peripheral areas. These shelves have built-in LEDs and delimit the space as a cube internally clad with books.  A multi-purpose room, especially for conferences that has earned the name ‘philosophical café’, as well as a room reserved for a garden and books for children, complete the programme.