The Mataha Foundation
bibliotecadelsol . com LIBRARY HIGH MOUNTAIN CULTURE ARK - SPAIN
LIBRARY
The library is a project realized by the Mataha Foundation a small non-profit organization , established by the contemporary artist Louis De Cordier . The foundation ' s mission is to enhance the well-being of humanity . The Mataha Foundation pursues this goal by realizing and supporting holistic projects that draw on knowledge of the past and present for the prosperity of future generations . The foundation started its program by supporting the ongoing archaeological research into the recently discovered labyrinth of Egypt at Hawara . This colossal temple , a legendary building lost for two millennia under the ancient sands of Egypt , was described by many classical authors such as Herodotus and Strabo as containing 3000 rooms full of hieroglyphs and paintings . A giant stone book made by the ancients as a legacy for humanity . To continue its mission the Mataha Foundation developed the " culture ark " in the high mountains of Southern Spain , storing important books in a safe way for reflection , awareness and redundancy . The library ' s concept is holistic , from the overall mission to its connection with the resilient local population . Experimentation with many architectural concepts and site locations was undertaken since the launch of the project in 2009 . The outcome was to build the library in the heart of the Spanish Sierra Nevada range , situated at 2000 meter above sea level , and 1 hour driving above the nearest mountain village . Numerous public and private libraries exist around the world ; but all are in geographical , political , environmental or urban locations that may potentially be hazardous , nor were they specifically designed to resist time , making this little dome complex in Andalusia , named Biblioteca del Sol , the only ‘ culture ark ’ on the planet . The library derived its name from the Arabic expression Sulayr , meaning ' mountain of the sun ', which is how the Moors [ 4 ] referred to the Sierra Nevada . After all , the mountain of the Sun of the ancients , was the first place in the entire Mediterranean where the light of the sun fell .
ART
STATEMENT
Where do we come from ? What are we ? Where are we going ? These questions are probably the most fundamental to mankind . The library project founds its origin in the quest to understand our place in the present world . How we have become what we are in this electronic age ? What ' s the right thing to do ? The project is among many things , a contemporary art project . Over the past century art has transformed itself from its preoccupation with beauty and the representation of the world , into something much more radical . Today , art has transformed itself into what rather can be described as a vast , chaotic yet effective research program that looks critically at the foundations of knowledge and perception , and the structures that modern society has chosen to construct upon these