Biblioteca dos Saberes
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Cultural
Ongoing
40.000 sqm
Francis Kéré, Kéré Architecture
Mariona Maeso Deitg, Juan Carlos Zapata
Nik Bürk, Teresa del Arenal, Alice Furlanetto, Pierre Jules Gagnière, Federico Lenghi, Andrea Maretto, Pablo Sanchez Sanus, Yannick Schütte, Zeno Wolfsteiner
SomaLab
The Biblioteca dos Saberes, is located at the heart of a new urban development in Rio de Janeiro’s Cidade Nova neighborhood. Commissioned by the City Hall, Kéré Architecture was invited to design a library and cultural center that will serve as an anchor for the revitalization of this historic district near Valongo Wharf and Little Africa. Much like Rio’s Porto Maravilha redevelopment, the Biblioteca dos Saberes aims to transform the city center into a more accessible, walkable, and vibrant area—activating a neighborhood that currently comes alive primarily during Carnival.
At the center of the 40,000 sqm library stands a vertical structure inspired by the native trees of the region. It evokes both the natural landscape and the symbolic role of the tree in Kéré’s hometown of Gando, Burkina Faso, where trees serve as gathering places for community life. This “tree of knowledge” connects the different elements of the complex while referencing African traditions, where trees serve as gathering spaces for community and exchange. Surrounding this tower, a three-story building unfolds with terraces, open-air areas, and a rooftop garden.
The interior accommodates reading rooms, library stacks, workshops, exhibition spaces, an auditorium, and a café, with activities carefully organized from quiet to lively: reading, sharing, gathering, performing, making, eating, and playing. Landscaped terraces, shaded courtyards, and a canopied amphitheater provide spaces for performances, reading, and informal assemblies. A pedestrian bridge will connect the library to the Monumento a Zumbi dos Palmares, a monument to the resistance leader Zumbi dos Palmares, reinforcing the project’s links to heritage and public life.
The library draws inspiration from the rich cultural and historical context of Rio de Janeiro. Situated on the former Praça Onze—the site of Brazil’s first samba school—and adjacent to Oscar Niemeyer’s Sambódromo, it celebrates indigenous and Afro-Brazilian heritage, oral traditions, and samba as a living form of knowledge. The building also reflects the area’s layered history, highlighting the city’s broader cultural diversity and its role as a meeting point of different communities, while engaging with architectural references such as Roberto Burle Marx and Oscar Niemeyer.
Ultimately, the Biblioteca dos Saberes is a public space open to all, a place that embodies knowledge, connection, and community while bridging histories, geographies, and cultures. Drawing on Francis Kéré’s experience of building in Africa, it reimagines the Atlantic not as a divide but as a river of shared heritage linking Brazil and Africa, shaping a library and cultural hub designed to inspire and serve generations to come.
The Biblioteca dos Saberes, is located at the heart of a new urban development in Rio de Janeiro’s Cidade Nova neighborhood. Commissioned by the City Hall, Kéré Architecture was invited to design a library and cultural center that will serve as an anchor for the revitalization of this historic district near Valongo Wharf and Little Africa. Much like Rio’s Porto Maravilha redevelopment, the Biblioteca dos Saberes aims to transform the city center into a more accessible, walkable, and vibrant area—activating a neighborhood that currently comes alive primarily during Carnival.
At the center of the 40,000 sqm library stands a vertical structure inspired by the native trees of the region. It evokes both the natural landscape and the symbolic role of the tree in Kéré’s hometown of Gando, Burkina Faso, where trees serve as gathering places for community life. This “tree of knowledge” connects the different elements of the complex while referencing African traditions, where trees serve as gathering spaces for community and exchange. Surrounding this tower, a three-story building unfolds with terraces, open-air areas, and a rooftop garden.
The interior accommodates reading rooms, library stacks, workshops, exhibition spaces, an auditorium, and a café, with activities carefully organized from quiet to lively: reading, sharing, gathering, performing, making, eating, and playing. Landscaped terraces, shaded courtyards, and a canopied amphitheater provide spaces for performances, reading, and informal assemblies. A pedestrian bridge will connect the library to the Monumento a Zumbi dos Palmares, a monument to the resistance leader Zumbi dos Palmares, reinforcing the project’s links to heritage and public life.
The library draws inspiration from the rich cultural and historical context of Rio de Janeiro. Situated on the former Praça Onze—the site of Brazil’s first samba school—and adjacent to Oscar Niemeyer’s Sambódromo, it celebrates indigenous and Afro-Brazilian heritage, oral traditions, and samba as a living form of knowledge. The building also reflects the area’s layered history, highlighting the city’s broader cultural diversity and its role as a meeting point of different communities, while engaging with architectural references such as Roberto Burle Marx and Oscar Niemeyer.
Ultimately, the Biblioteca dos Saberes is a public space open to all, a place that embodies knowledge, connection, and community while bridging histories, geographies, and cultures. Drawing on Francis Kéré’s experience of building in Africa, it reimagines the Atlantic not as a divide but as a river of shared heritage linking Brazil and Africa, shaping a library and cultural hub designed to inspire and serve generations to come.
