Books on Wheels (BOW) is located in the Guairá Department of Paraguay. According to the National Census, Guairá is home to some of the smallest communities in the country and lacks educational infrastructure. Furthermore, due to the current Global Pandemic, institutions from around the world have been closed since early 2020. People have had to continue their education from home making it especially difficult in rural areas, such as Guairá, where internet access is virtually non-existent. BOW is an attempt to alleviate the situation. Consisting of a truck on route serving communities circumscribing Capitan Mauricio José Troche which is currently the bigger town and acts as the central hub of smaller towns as it’s located on the main road connecting National roads 2 and 8.BOW could potentially broaden its networks to other countries in a similar situation.
CONCEPT_
BOW at its core is an unfolding library. A box of knowledge that opens up providing self-sustaining versatile spaces offering all the conventions of the modern library.
The concept is conceived from the conditions children in communities like that of Guaira, Paraguay need to traverse in order to reach existing educational institutions–BOW facilitates this process by physically bringing them what they need.
DESIGN STRATEGY_
BOW has a 30 m2 footprint that unfolds to become a 160 m2 library. It opts for a steel structure to achieve maximum support and efficiency. Plywood finishes consider sustainability and provide a warm atmosphere for the user.
Programmatically, the library is organized around a structural core and is broken into five sectors.
- The central core: Restrooms, Kitchen and Information Desk–dividing the plan and opening up four additional versatile sectors. Cafeteria and main entrance: Right in front of the kitchen, offers a sitting area for beverages like tereré and light food.
- Cafeteria and main entrance: Right in front of the kitchen, offers a sitting area for beverages like tereré and light food.
- Think Tank: On the opposite side, available for small group meetings or even large group lectures.
- The Multi-Functional Room: Completely open, has a functional wall that allows users to move and group freely around the space–facilitating organized activities.
- Dedicated Reading Room: More contained and compact. The arrangement of the rotating shelves, and the tables hidden in the floor, divides the space into a more domestic scale and provides the user with a more controlled environment.
