Design Indaba alumnus and Pritzker Prize-winning Burkinabè architect Francis Kéré has shared plans for Biblioteca dos Saberes, Kéré Architecture’s first built project in South America. Conceived as both a library and civic cultural hub, the project celebrates Afro-Brazilian heritage, indigenous knowledge systems and the collective spirit embedded within Rio de Janeiro’s samba culture.
Commissioned by Rio de Janeiro City Hall, the 40,000-square-metre development will be located in the city’s historic Cidade Nova district as part of a broader urban regeneration initiative connected to Valongo Wharf and the Little Africa neighbourhood, sites deeply intertwined with the history of the African diaspora in Brazil. Rather than approaching the library as a silent monument to knowledge, Kéré envisions the building as an active social space rooted in gathering, exchange and public life.
At the centre of the design is a soaring cylindrical atrium referred to as the “tree of knowledge”. The structure draws inspiration from both the towering trees of Rio’s Tijuca Forest and the tradition of communal gathering beneath trees in Kéré’s hometown in Burkina Faso. Throughout the project, architecture becomes a framework for connection through the use of shaded courtyards, perforated façades and open-air circulation systems respond to Rio’s tropical climate while encouraging movement and interaction between visitors and spaces.
The library will house reading rooms, exhibition spaces, workshops, cafés and flexible public areas arranged in a gradual transition from quiet contemplation to lively communal exchange. Biblioteca dos Saberes is designed to serve as a living platform for storytelling, cultural memory and shared identity across the Global South.
