A47 Mobile Art Library / PRODUCTORA

Architects: PRODUCTORA
Area: 20 m²
Year: 2012
Photography: Luis Gallardo
Project Team: Carlos Bedoya, Victor Jaime, Wonne Ickx, Abel Perles
Project Manager: Guillermina Ceci
Collaborators: Lucrecia Sodo, Uriel Piña, Iván Villegas, Charlotte Martinot
Client: Fundación Alumnos47
City: Mexico City
Country: Mexico

The A47 Mobile Art Library, designed by the Mexican architecture studio PRODUCTORA, is a compact 20 m² cultural hub housed within a Freightliner M2 20K lorry. Located in Mexico City, the project was developed in collaboration with Fundación Alumnos47 to foster cultural engagement in urban spaces. The mobile library hosts a range of activities such as workshops, book presentations, and film screenings, offering a flexible design with removable bookshelves, mobile platforms, and a permeable exterior that connects the space with its surroundings. This innovative approach creates an adaptable environment that bridges artistic communities with broader audiences.

Fundación Alumnos47, a civil organization focused on contemporary art and visual culture, initiated the A47 Mobile Library to serve as an interim cultural platform while planning for a public art museum, expected to open by 2014. To activate the foundation’s collection in the meantime, the mobile unit was conceived as a traveling space for art and learning. PRODUCTORA’s design responded to this need, creating a versatile, movable cultural center that would engage different urban areas until the permanent museum was completed.

The lorry functions primarily as a mobile collection of contemporary art books. However, it is designed to maximize the use of every centimeter, achieving full functionality in its small space. The bookshelves have been reimagined as floating trays above users, offering a flexible, open plan. This allows the vehicle to adapt to various activities, such as book presentations, workshop, film dubs, and poetry readings, as well as providing access to its book collection.

The lorry’s floor is composed of mobile platforms, giving access to the bookshelves and enabling the space to be rearranged for different activities. The surrounding micro-perforated sheet serves as a permeable membrane, blending the interior and exterior, offering transparency and connection with the urban context. From the street, passerby can glimpse the suspended books inside, while the lorry also serves as an illuminated urban landmark at night. Its integrated electricity generator powers this lighting, signaling the start of its evening programming.

Through this innovative design, the A47 mobile library redefines what a library can be. It is not a static archive but a dynamic entity, turning imagination into collective memory. The lorry adapts to changes in the city, acting like a mechanical insect that folds its elements away by night and continues its journey.