The Gabriel García Márquez Library, shortlisted for the 2023 FAD Architecture Award

Award. The library, winner of the 2023 City of Barcelona Award for Architecture, Urban Planning and Design, is adding more and more awards and nominations to its collection.

After being shortlisted for the award for the world’s best public library, the Gabriel García Márquez Library, located in the Sant Martí district, is now also a finalist for the FAD Architecture and Interior Design Awards.

The FAD Awards jury highlighted the building’s design as a modern library built out of large wooden components that successfully combine the urban and human aspects. They also considered the building’s spatial richness to be one of its strongest points.

The Como Design Studio also received the bronze Laus Award in the signage category this year, for its work at the Gabriel García Márquez Library. The award highlighted how well the signage had been integrated, adapted to each space, with great respect for the materials used and for the idea of a “sustainable forest”, maximising the use of wood and reducing the thickness of the aluminium used by 2 mm in order to minimise environmental impact.

Last February, Suma Arquitectura won a City of Barcelona Award for the Gabriel García Márquez Library. In the jury’s opinion, the project successfully addressed the material, environmental, spatial and urban aspects of a complex and innovative library project that provides residents in the local neighbourhood with a social, cultural and educational service that goes beyond those usually provided by libraries.