Anupama Kundoo. Unbound: The Library of Lost Books

Identity Anupama
Liberty Kundoo
Diversity IaaC Unbound:
Democracy TUB The Library of
Memory UQ Lost Books
Europe Plaça
Salvador Seguí
Barcelona

Unbound: The Library of Lost Books
BCN Re.Set Barcelona 2014
A project by
Ajuntament de Barcelona – Tricentenari BCN
Contents
Installation Architect
Anupama Kundoo
Theme
Liberty
Local Institute
IaaC
International partners
TUB, UQ
Political context
“September 11, 2014 is not a celebration of a defeat,
it is the fight for freedom”, Xavier Trias, Mayor of
Barcelona
Physical context
Plaça Salvador Seguí/Filmoteca de Catalunya
Social context
Dense multi-cultural
Organized by Fundació Enric Miralles
Coordination: Beatriz Minguez de Molina
Production: Marta Pérez-Porro
Sponsorship: Nayara Naranjo
Curators: Benedetta Tagliabue and Àlex Ollé
In collaboration with: IaaC Institut d’arquitectura
avançada de Catalunya/Institute for Advanced Architecture
of Catalonia, Barcelona
Project Development: IaaC, Barcelona:
Areti Markopoulou, Silvia Brandi
Project Assistance: IaaC, Barcelona: Stefanos Levidis and
Rodgrigo Aguirre/UQ, Brisbane: Ali Dabirian
Fabricaton: Fab Lab, Barcelona:
Anastasia Pistofidou, Alexandre Dubor
International collaborators: UQ, Brisbane, Australia
and TU Berlin
Structural design concept: Mike Schlaich and Arndt
Goldack, TU Berlin
Local structural designers: Pedelta Barcelona, founded
by Juan Sobrino, engineering team Lara Pellegrini,
Diego Sisí and Joan Agustí
Lighting: Viabizzuno
Film program: Filmoteca de Catalunya
Film curators: Esteban Riambau, Director of the Filmoteca
de Catalunya, and Xavier García Puerto
Sourcing of old books: Carme Fenoll, Director General,
Cap del Servei de Biblioteques, Generalitat de Catalunya
Book exchange: Coque - Bar Freedonia, representative of
Raval Cultural Bar Association
Reading program: Pepe Ros - ViVIM DEL CUENTO
Social integration in Raval: Sergio Ros
Primary School Participation: Marta Rodger, Director,
SEK International School
1 Conceptual Description 3
4 Technical Description 4
3 Associated Mobile Structures:
Seating, Shelves/Carts 6
4 Program 8
5 Time Schedule 8
6 Barcelona Workshop 2013 9
7 Team and Partners 12
© 2014 Anupama Kundoo for the text,
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia,
photographers and designers for the images

1 Conceptual Description
‘The Library of Lost Books’ is a bookless library with
a live program of reading. The focus is on the content
of the book and the act of reading. ‘Unbound’, a term
that relates to the description of books, also expresses
liberty and the idea of plenty, of limitlessness.
The theme ‘liberty’ is expressed through creating a
place that celebrates ‘reading’, a place that symbolizes
an expression of freedom, as a place where knowledge
is free. Knowledge is empowerment, and knowledge
will lead to progress and freedom. This is appropriately
expressed as an ‘outdoor’ place under the ‘shade of
trees’ where everybody has a good memory of having
read a good book in the sense of freedom, free from
the confines of walls of buildings.
Yet, books ‘the building blocks’ of society are facing
extinction. Transition/evolution in the ‘form’ of the
book through time has led to books becoming lighter,
losing their materiality, now often only virtual. However
the act of ‘reading’ continues. Books, as beings in
transit, pass through the hands of many readers as in
libraries, rather than sitting on shelves of owners, or
still with publishers. ‘Obsolete’ books locked in storage
about to face their end, are rescued from pulping,
brought back in circulation, and liberated, and are
available for free exchange.
‘Obsolete’ books will be recycled as a construction material,
to build a canopy which will give shade to those
who engage in ‘reading’ and ‘listening to stories told
aloud’ or those engaged in ‘freely exchanging’ books
without exchanging money. After dismantling, the
books used to construct the canopy will be available to
the public as a souvenir commemorating the event.
Liberation is lightness. These are light-weight structures
for heavy-weight books that transcend the sense
of ‘weight’ to focus on the perception of the ‘light’
element of the book: content.
Filmoteca de Catalunya at Plaça Salvador Seguí,
seen from Southeast. Photo: Filmoteca de Catalunya
Books made of paper are at the environmental cost of
trees. Recycled books are used to reconstruct trees as a
symbol of the acknowledgement of these resources to
create an open-air library for ‘reading’.
3 The Context

2 Technical Description
Three canopy structures of different sizes and of varying
heights, called ‘trees’, shade the existing square of
Salvador Seguí through central supports like trunks. The
technical design is a reflection of the symbolic intention
of using knowledge to ‘liberate’ the structure from its
weight and express lightness and effortlessness.
The structure is constructed out of steel tubular profiles
of varying diameters according to the load they carry just
like in branches. Smaller diameter tubes penetrate the
larger diameter ones leaning outwards to progressively
create a large overhang. The penetration of tubes is
enabled through precise laser cut apertures in the larger
diameter tubes. The subsequently smaller diameter tube
penetrates the larger tubes twice to establish a triangulated
geometry in the joints and strength them.
This arrangement of interlocking steel tubes achieve a
large cantilever with little material. Although the trees
have different spans, 10 m, 9 m and 8 m diameter respectively,
the same radial assembly is used in each tree
composed of the same tubular profiles meeting at exactly
the same angles and distances to achieve ease in fabrication
through repetition.
Yet the loads in the different trees differ significantly just
as the span of the canopy does. While keeping the same
profile of the structural component, the proportionate
distribution of load is adjusted by reducing the number
of radial support assemblies. The largest tree has 7 radials,
the medium tree has 6 radials and the small tree has
5 radials. The span of the canopy above remains thus
similar and the identical profile assemblies for different
tree spans are thus justified.
Heavy concrete bases receive the trunks, that are assemblies
of 7, 6 and 5 poles respectively. The different geometries
in the 3 trees resulting out of different number of
repetitions in each case is indicated through the polygonal
design of the bases that are pentagonal, hexagonal
and heptagonal. These varying pentagons symbolise the
diversity of expressions of an idea resulting from similar
units and scales.
The radially placed steel profile assemblies are connected
to each other in the central area through a web of cables
to balance the outward thrust of each through the thrust
of the other in the opposite direction. At the top the ends
of poles are connected through a web of steel cables.
The canopy consists of a fabric made of plastic-wrapped
book modules that are assembled together and attached
to the structure using cable wire. The plastic wrapping is
the same as the vaccum packaging of delicatessen items
like ham and olives and symbolise the attempt to extend
the shelf life of the book and create the association of a
highly valued though familiar object.
4 Technical Description

3 Associated Mobile Structures
Seating
Urban furniture will be created as a temporary seating
that will be a playful expression of outdoor landscape.
This will be made out of ‘obsolete’ books but will show
the materiality and versatility of the object of the book.
While it is sad to treat these obsolete books as redundant,
it is also intended that society can confront the reality
that everyday huge amounts of ‘obsolete’ books are being
burnt, or sent for pulping. Our society is generating large
quantities of books that are eventually destroyed, and
while drawing the attention on the content of the book
and encourage reading, it is also an intention to save
the destruction of these and attempt expressions of its
further reuse.
Shelves/Carts
A mobile vehicle for facilitating ‘free-exchange’ of books
that can be stored in the Filmoteca space where it can
continue as a space of ‘free-exchange’ of books by the
visitors of the Filmoteca so as to secure the furniture and
the books from vandalism.
Seating area, the outcome of the ‘Building Knowledge’ workshop
at Museo ICO Madrid conducted by Anupama Kundoo, April 2014
with Elena Orte, workshop mentor, her daughter Ginebra and a
visitor. Photo: Guillermo Sevillano
6 Technical Description

Drawings: Ali Dabirian

8 Technical Description

4 Programme
5 Time Schedule
1 Reading and listening to stories read out loudly in
many languages including those of the immigrant local
inhabitants of the neighbourhood. These are managed
through recordings of interviews that are played back
through speakers on the tree structures, and through
organised events where actual reading takes place by
volonteers and invited guests, authors, publishers and
those interested. Children will be
at the center of the program that is planned with special
readings organised for them. Children will read to others,
and adults will read to children.
2 Free exchange of books among city inhabitants in the
organised open-market sessions. There will be no money
exchange, just ‘free exchange’ among people strengthening
community.
2014
April 23
San Jordi, ground-breaking, setting out plan on site
May 10
Completion of the detailed drawings and detail
cost-estimates
May 30
Completion of building elements and some
assemblies at Fablab IaaC
June 9
Completion of construction at the Plaça Salvador
Seguí
June 10
Preview for invitees
June 11
Open to public
3 Screening of special films centred around reading
through the involvement of the Filmoteca, such as The
Dead Poets Society or La Tête en Friche (My Afternoons
With Margueritte).
4 Discussions through seminar/panel sessions organised
in the Filmoteca in relation to the films screened.
Vaccum packed open books are assembled into a fabric that serves
as a canopy allowing the view of patches of sky. Photos: Ali Dabirian
9 Programme · Time Schedule

10 Workshop at IaaC Barcelona

6 Workshop at IaaC Barcelona October 28–31, 2013
October 28
Masterclass lecture by Prof. Gerd Fleischmann,
‘What is a book?’ followed by hands-on workshop
introduced by Anupama Kundoo
October 29
Ongoing workshop and ideas with Dr. Anupama
Kundoo, Prof. Gerd Fleischmann, Dr. Arndt
Goldack, TU Berlin
Lecture by Dr. Arndt Goldack, ‘Dynamic Lightweight
Structures’.
October 30
Wrap-up of workshop output, discussion and
evaluation of results, further ideas
October 31
Lecture by Anupama Kundoo, ‘Building Knowledge:
An approach to architecture in response
to socio-economic and environmental concerns’
Demystifying the book as a familiar object. Applying book
assembly experiences to architectural elements. Luis Leon Lopez,
Wen Shan Foo, Remita Thomas with Anupama Kundoo (opposite
page). All photographs from the workshop at IaaC Barcelona:
Mathilde Marengo
Book-tuning exercises, discovery of adhesive properties of
inter-locked pages due to friction: Trinidad Gomez, Wen Shan
Foo, Chung Kai Hsieh.
El Vol de la Llibertat by Alessio Salvatore Verdolino and Giacomo
Fiorani. The open book as a sculpted element symbolises flight
and liberty, Workshop at IaaC. Exercise: Applying book assembly
experiences to architectural elements.
11 Workshop at IaaC Barcelona

8 Team and Partners
Residents of Raval neighbourhood in conversation with
Anupama Kundoo during her visit to the site. In the distance architect
Odile Decq and on her left architect Alfredo Brillemburg,
two of the other five international participating architects.
Photo courtesy Fundació Enric Miralles
Engineers Juan Sobrino and Lara Pellegrini in discussion with
Anupama Kundoo (from left to right)
Anupama Kundoo, Benedetta Tagliabue, curator of the BCN
Reset project and founder of the Fundació Enric Miralles, and Odor
at IaaC (from left). Photos: Ali Dabirian
12 Team and Partners

Anupama Kundoo
Dr. Anupama Kundoo is known for her research-oriented
practice and her practice-oriented teaching. Her
internationally recognized and award-winning architecture
practice demonstrates a strong focus on material
research and experimentation towards an architecture
that has low environmental impact and is appropriate to
the socio-economic context.
Kundoo has built extensively in India and has had the
experience of working, researching and teaching in a
variety of cultural contexts across the world: TU Berlin,
AA London, TU Darmstadt, Parsons New School
of Design, New York, and is currently teaching at UQ,
University of Queensland in Brisbane. At Parsons she
was the Chair for Environmental Technologies and Material
Sciences and in the various schools she has taught
Architectural Design, Urban Management and Environmental
Technologies. She has lectured and exhibited
extensively across international institutions and has conducted
workshops and reviewed student work at several
Universities including Cornell University, University of
Melbourne, Lebanese American University and University
of Limerick.
Her recent contribution to the 13th Venice Architecture
Biennale involved the full-scale facsimile of her Wall
House project. As a runner-up in the 2013, ArcVision
International Prize for ‘Women and Architecture’ she
received an ‘Honorable Mention’ by the jury for “her
dedication when approaching the problem of affordability
of construction
and sustainability in all aspects”. In 2013 she also won
the Dr. Vishnu Joshi award for the best Ferrocement
structure by the Indian Society of Ferrocement.
Anupama Kundoo, Areti Markopoulou, Silvia Brandi, Ali Dabirian
(from left). Photo courtesy IaaC
Her projects as well as writings have been featured in a
wide range of books, international journals and newspapers
such as Phaidon World Atlas of Contemporary Architecture,
AD Architectural Design London, Modulør,
ArchitectureAU, India Today, Bauwelt and Duurzaam
Bowen. She has co-edited the Sustainable Building
Design Manual Vol. 1 and 2 for Institut Catala d’Energia,
2004; produced in partnership with London, Barcelona
and Delhi. In 2009 she authored Roger Anger: Research
on Beauty, about the life and work of a prominent
Parisian architect (1923–2008) of the fifties and sixties,
who was appointed the Chief Architect of Auroville, an
idealistic city project located in South India.
13 Team and Partners

Areti Markopoulou, IaaC
Silvia Brandi, IaaC
Mike Schlaich, TUB
Areti Markopoulou is a Greek architect and educator
whose research and practice design explores new architectural
models where applications of ICT, Energy and
Fabrication allow built and public space to dynamically
adapt to behavioral and environmental changes over
time.
She holds an MArch by IaaC in the field of “Prototypes
of Urbanity: from Bits to Geography” and a Fab Academy
diploma on Digital Fabrication offered by the MIT
Center for Bits and Atoms and the Fab Lab Network.
She is permanent faculty at IaaC with several published
articles internationally. Co-founder of the Mycity-me
non profit organization, her practice includes project
collaborations with multidisciplinary offices and institutions
and she has participated in R+D projects ranging
from Intelligent Cities ( such as “Smart BCN” with City
Council Barcelona, 2013), Self Sufficient Buildings (such
as “Fab Lab House” at Solar Decathlon Europe, 2010),
Digital Fabrication (such as “Fabrication Laboratory” at
DHUB, 2010) and Internet of Things (such as “Hyperhabitat”
at the XI Venice Biennale, 2008).
She is currently the Director of the Masters in Advanced
Architecture at IaaC in Barcelona and initiator and partner
of Fab Lab Athens in Greece.
Silvia Brandi studied architecture at Politecnico di
Milano and ETSAB UPC (Erasmus Program in Barcelona).
In 2004 she graduated with honors (tutor Giovanni
La Varra) with a thesis about the transformation of the
Alps landscape (Paolo Aldeghieri Award 2004) and won
a scholarship to develop an urban project at POSTECH
University in South Korea.
She worked in Milan with Stefano Boeri and from 2006
is settled in Barcelona where she is part of Institute of
advanced architecture of Catalonia staff as the coordinator
of the book Self-Sufficient Housing, ed. ACTAR –
IaaC (2006). From 2006 she works with Josep Miàs in
the international architectural firm MiAS Architects as
Head Architect and Studio Supervisor.
As Project Leader she has lead several built projects,
most notably new iGuzzini Headquarters in Barcelona
(Archdaily Building of the year and WAF2012 Shortlisted),
Market facilities and public space in Rubí, the
Puppet Theater in Tibidabo Amusement Park, the Torrebaró
Apartment Tower. She has been co-editor of various
publications, such as the monographic book about
iGuzzini building ed. ACTAR Birkhäuser (2012), and the
one about Barceloneta Market ed. ACTAR (2010) and
has curated exhibitions about MiAS Architects work in
Barcelona (Collegi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya, 2008;
Tibidabo Amusement Park, 2010) and London (Bartlett
School of Architecture UCL, 2012).
Mike Schlaich is Professor for Civil Engineering chairing
the Department of Conceptual and Structural Design
at Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) and the
Managing Director of schlaich bergermann und partner,
Consulting Structural Engineers, Germany.
Mike Schlaich worked in Spain for several years as a
structural engineer before joining schlaich bergermann
and partner in Stuttgart which specializes in lightweight
and long-span structures. His research at TU Berlin concentrates
upon active and movable lightweight structures
that can adapt to changing boundary conditions. An
“intelligent” bridge with damping by artificial muscles or
experimental structures that fold away when not needed
was built at the TU Berlin lab.
Mike Schlaich received the German Bridge Design Award
(Deutscher Brückenbaupreis) in 2010 for the Footbridge
Sassnitz.
Since 2006 she also collaborates with Josep Miàs in
architecture academical courses at ETSAB (Barcelona)
and at UNISS (Sassari) and has been invited by various
international Institutions to give lectures about
MiAS Architects works. From 2012 she is back at IaaC
as Academic Coordinator and Faculty at the Master in
Advanced Architecture and Open Thesis Fabrication
programs.
14 Team and Partners

Arndt Goldack, TUB
Arndt Goldack studied civil and structural engineering
at the University of Stuttgart. From 1996 to 2003
he was research assistant with Prof. Jörg Schlaich and
Prof. Werner Sobek at the Institute for Structural Design
at the University of Stuttgart. In 2004 he received a
doctor’s degree with the awarded thesis on the structural
behavior and bracing of High Rise Tubes for Solar
Updraft Towers.
From 2003 to 2011 he was structural engineer with
schlaich bergermann and partner in Stuttgart and Berlin,
where he was in charge of several projects such as an integral
bridge for high speed trains, a cable stayed bridge
in New Dehli and dynamics of pedestrian bridges. Since
July 2011 he is researcher at the Chair of Conceptual
and Structural Design, TU Berlin, working on pedestrian
induced vibration, experimental modal analysis and
structural control as well as lightweight structures and
lightweight concrete.
Pedelta Barcelona Engineering Team
Pedelta is an international independent engineering
firm specialised in the design and conservation of
bridges, civil engineering structures and buildings.
The company approaches its projects with a technical,
human and creative point of view. Pedelta offices are
located in Barcelona, Bogota, Miami, Pittsburgh, Toronto
and Panama.
Juan A. Sobrino founded Pedelta in 1994. A graduate
of Civil Engineering from the Polytechnic University
of Catalonia (UPC) Barcelona, Spain, Juan Sobrino
completed his PhD from the same institute in 1994.
His professional activity has been devoted to the design
of bridges and civil engineering structures as well as
to the assessment and rehabilitation of existing bridges.
His experience includes considerable background with
the structural analysis and design of bridges and other
structures for heavy civil projects and the design of over
65 bridges of high-speed railway bridges and various
cable-stayed and extra-dosed bridges. Several projects
have been internationally awarded.
Lara Pellegrini studied Civil Engineering graduating
from the University of Padua in Italy in 1998, and
completed her Masters in Numerical Methods for the
Calculation and Design Engineering , from the UPC
Barcelona. Having worked for one year at the UPC and
for three years in BOMA, she joined Pedelta in 2003.
Between 2003 and 2010 her activity has been devoted to
structural design, mainly pedestrian bridges and other
structures. She has also collaborated on the design of
several hybrid stainless steel footbridges duplexes and
FRP .
Since 2010 Lara is responsible for R&D and business
developer director of Pedelta in the Spanish territory.
Engineering calculations for ‘Unbound: The Library of
Lost Books’: Diego Sisí and Joan Agustí.
His personal awards include IABSE Prize and the
Award on Innovation of the Board of the Spanish Civil
Engineers.
Juan Sobrino is an adjunct professor at Carnegie-
Mellon University in Pittsburgh and a part-time associate
professor at the UPC in Barcelona.
15 Team and Partners

Anupama
Kundoo
Unbound:.
The Library of
Lost Books
Plaça
Salvador Seguí
Barcelona
Anupama Kundoo
Unbound: The Library of Lost Books
BCN Re.Set Barcelona 2014
Plaça Salvador Seguí
Barcelona
Light-weight structures for heavy-weight books transcend the
sense of ‘weight’ to focus on the perception of the ‘light’ element of
the book : content.