Bookworms aware! if you ever go to Sao Paulo for holiday or else, don’t be afraid when your girlfriend or wife ask you out for shopping, you can always wait for her in the Livraria da Vila. And if you are like me who can’t live without books, then it’s a safe heaven for sure and by the time, it’s your girlfriend asking you to go back to the hotel instead of you. Livraria da Vila, designed by the local architect Isay Weinfeld, is definitely a case of good books and great architecture in one place. Stocked with an enormous amount of titles, great design, a variety of comfortable reading space, the secret-lab style entrance doors, the dramatic stairs, an entire floor exclusive for children as well as a small auditorium, what more can you ask from a bookstore? I certainly dig the pivoting bookshelf facade!!

© Leonardo Finotti

© Leonardo Finotti

© Leonardo Finotti

© Leonardo Finotti

© Leonardo Finotti

© Leonardo Finotti

© Leonardo Finotti

Several awards won by Livraria da Vila :

2008 / Yellow Pencil Prize /// Environmental Design_Retail and Services /// D&AD Awards, London, UK
2008 / Spark! Award /// Spark! Awards, San Francisco, USA
2008 / High Commendation /// World Architecture Festival, Barcelona, Spain