Kéré Architecture has unveiled its proposal for the 40,000-square-meter Biblioteca dos Saberes (House of Wisdom) in Rio de Janeiro’s Cidade Nova neighborhood. Designed by Francis Kéré, Mariona Maeso Deitg, and Juan Carlos Zapata, the cultural complex is commissioned by the Rio de Janeiro City Hall and planned for a site near Valongo Wharf and the Little Africa area. The design was presented to members of the community on November 20, the National Day of Zumbi and Black Consciousness in Brazil. Important features include a perforated façade for sun protection, roof gardens, landscaped terraces, shaded courtyards, open-air areas, a canopied amphitheater, and a pedestrian bridge connecting the building to the nearby monument to Zumbi dos Palmares.
Central to the proposal is the cylindrical “tree of knowledge,” inspired by native trees of the Tijuca Forest and evoking the communal role of trees in Kéré’s hometown of Gando, Burkina Faso. This vertical structure connects the library’s three levels, which would accommodate reading rooms, stacks, workshops, exhibition spaces, an auditorium, and a café. The program follows a progression from quiet to lively: reading, sharing, gathering, performing, making, eating, and playing, supporting a wide range of community uses within the historic district. The project also celebrates Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian heritage, oral traditions, and samba as a living form of knowledge. It reimagines the Atlantic not as a divide but as a river of shared cultural history linking Brazil and Africa.
The proposal further draws on the cultural layers of the former Praça Onze, birthplace of Brazil’s first samba school, and its proximity to Oscar Niemeyer’s Sambódromo. Presenting the design, Mayor Eduardo Paes stated: “From Little Africa to the world, Francis Kéré’s project pays homage to the Atlantic, African, and portside formations that have shaped this plural Rio, a home for all Cariocas. A library of samba and of the people’s wisdom, it consolidates Rio’s legacy as the first Portuguese-speaking city ever named UNESCO World Book Capital, an honor that now becomes both a work and a symbol of our time.”
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The Biblioteca dos Saberes is a celebration of the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro. I love its rhythm, its voices, its spirit flowing through the streets and along the waves of the Atlantic. This library grows from the city’s history and wisdom, from samba that moves the body to the poetry that moves the heart. It is a home for knowledge that belongs to everyone, a place where past and future meet beneath one roof, open to the city and to the sea that carries its stories to the world. — Architect Francis Kéré
Other recent cultural architecture developments include the completion of Mecanoo’s Abu Dhabi Natural History Museum, which presents 13.8 billion years of science and discovery with a particular focus on the Arabian region; Snøhetta’s release of new images for its winning design for the future Düsseldorf Opera House; and the Qatar Foundation’s launch of Lawh Wa Qalam: M. F. Husain Museum, a new addition to the country’s cultural landscape dedicated to the life and work of Maqbool Fida Husain. In terms of cultural events, the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale has concluded as the event’s most visited edition to date, alongside the closing of the 2025 World Architecture Festival in Miami.