ARCHITECTURE: João Luís Carrilho da Graça _______________________________________________ ADDRESS: Rua Poço do Bispo, Tavira _______________________________________________ CITY: Tavira ______________________________________________ DATE: 1999-2004 _______________________________________________ VISIT: Inside - Outside _______________________________________________ MORE DETAILS: The Municipal Library of Tavira was installed in the old civil jail and proposes the construction of a new building around the existing one. The main entrance is drawn in the confluence of the two surrounding streets, creating a courtyard defined by the façade of the old building and the new perimetral walls that surround it. In this courtyard, the accesses by ramp or stairs from the street level, take the visitors to the platform at the level of the pre-existing pavement. In those paths of arrival to the Library, the façade of the old jail reveals itself in a perspective and scenographic form. In the centre of the equipment, there is a courtyard that results from the demolition of the interior of the old jail becoming an axis around which the library’s public spaces are distributed, giving them light and promoting their continuity to the exterior. The origin of the Library of Tavira is owed to the legacy that belonged to the benefactor José Joaquim Jara. _______________________________________________
