Biblioteca Pública Municipal Iván de Vargas

A library that combines tradition and the avant-garde in the heart of the city’s historical centre

The Iván de Vargas Municipal Public Library is located close to Plaza del Cordón in the historical centre of the Madrid de los Austrias (Hapsburg Madrid). It occupies the site of an old mansion that once belonged to one of the city’s oldest lineages.

Designed by architect Ramón Andrade and inaugurated in 2011, the building integrates historical and functional elements and uses such material as granite, glass and wood. It combines a restored 18th century Baroque façade and courtyard with newly created spaces and an enormous new façade whose design is split to create a gap that allows us to admire a large magnolia tree and the library’s wooden doors and windows.

It has an area of more than 2,800 square metres arranged over four floors with several consulting, reading, and workgroup rooms, in addition to a spacious multipurpose room. Of note are the luminosity of its spaces, the basement, the terraces and the roof terrace with views over the Pontifical Basilica of St. Michael.

Updated: 11/05/2023