Cultura Bookstore by studio mk27

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studio mk27 has designed a bookstore that encourages customers to stay and hang-out. Located in São Paulo, Brazil, the ‘Livraria Cultura’, translated as Cultura Bookstore was envisioned as a social meeting place that goes beyond the typical retail space premise. The project has recently won the Retail category of the 2014 INSIDE Festival Awards.

Image © Fernando Guerra

More than just merely a place to shop, the store is inviting to stay and hang-out. Thus, we sought for visitors to not only find a book that they might be looking for, but rather that they remain there.

– studio mk27

Image © Fernando Guerra

The vast open space spans over 2500 m² on four different levels. The main entrance to the bookstore is marked by a 7.7m aluminum framed glass, that is entirely recessed, making the space extremely welcoming. The entrance floor houses the audiovisual products, a cafe, and a garden.

Image © Fernando Guerra

A set of escalators bring to the great span of the bookstore, reaching over an intermediate floor, which houses toys and comic books – the so-called Geek space.

– studio mk27

Image © Fernando Guerra

The top floor level features a large open space with tables and club-chairs, as well as 21m wide bleachers opening over the span. Envisioned as a social space, the customers are invited to browse through the pages of a book, while at times the area is used for small concerts and lectures. The structure leads the visitors to the large open mezzanine.

Image © Fernando Guerra

The entire perimeter of the space is lined with book shelves, supported by eleven large tables arranged orthogonally in the large room, and on white stands on the peripheral areas. The built-in LEDs transform the space into ‘a cube internally clad with books’, as studio mk27 describes it.

Image © Fernando Guerra

The mezzanine also includes a multi-use room, named the philosophical café, and a room reserved for a garden and books for children.

Image © Fernando Guerra

The floors and the ceilings are all made of wood, creating a contrast agains the white laminated bookshelves that span across the perimeter of the space. The hand-rails were made of glass to minimize the visual interference of these elements, almost disappearing in the background.

Image © Fernando Guerra

Sleek lines of light adorn the wooden ceiling, while wooden pendant lights offer accent lighting. The iconic Coconut Armchairs by George Nelson, bring a pop of colour to the space, and offer room for socializing or reading.

Image © Fernando Guerra

The architectural journey begins in a cozy space then arrives at a monumental area, living, where most of the products and visitors can interact with one another, where one can take a book and read a chapter even before purchasing it, where one can simply rest and watch the movement. We thought like this, with inviting and pleasant spaces that end up promoting a type of socialization among people, these are the bookstores of the XXI century. The program is the very life of the store.

– studio mk27

Image © Fernando Guerra

Facts:
Project: Cultura Bookstore
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Built Area: 2500 m²
Architecture: studio mk27 – Marcio Kogan + Diana Radomysler + Luciana Antunes + Marcio Tanaka + Mariana Ruzante
Studio Team: Beatriz Meyer, Carolina Castroviejo, Eduardo Chalabi, Eduardo Glycerio, Eduardo Gurian, Elisa Friedmann, Gabriel Kogan, Lair Reis, Oswaldo Pessano, Renata Furlanetto, Samanta Cafardo, Suzana Glogowski
Consultants: