complex societies , which lost the human scale of things . Without cultural records , mankind has no memory to learn from its successes and failures . Proven many times over , ignorance of history condemns us to repeat things . Is it not our common duty to safeguard the most valuable knowledge in the best way possible ? An important responsibility we face that facilitates the realization of specially designed repositories , such as the library in the Sierra Nevada mountains . After all , a library still is the best way to preserve the important aspects of man ' s written information for a future made by hand . Not DVD ' s , hard disks , chips , or the Internet .
DESIGN
The underground repository was constructed to last for millennia . The library builders created a maximum of storage space , efficiency and durability , with a minimum of budget , labour and visual impact . The building consist of a 8m diameter dome shaped bunker , surrounded by 4 book vaults . Created to separately contain knowledge about art , science , spirituality and a seed collection . The building was designed to blend in an existing massive terrace , once created by the Moors centuries ago to produce green tea or silk ( mulberry trees ). The library was conceived not to be open for public use , not only because of its mere role as being a back-up , its remote location , but the presence of many good communal libraries in the area for the day-to-day access to books and information . Because of this specific approach , we could focus to optimize the environment for physical preservation that facilitates the most basic access .
The repository is designed to both borrow cold and keep cold . The structured borrowed cold by digging deep into the ground , where the temperature well below the frost level remains fairly constant 11,11 Celsius ( 52 ° F ). This works two ways . The deep-down earth library is slow to be affected by freezing high mountain surface temperatures in the winter , and protected by the hot Andalusian summer heat . The repository will maintain excellent storage temperatures between 0 ° & 13 ° Celsius ( 32 ° & 55 ° F ), comparable with the statistics of several underground root cellars in the region . An inbuilt proper ventilation system , creates a constant airflow to help reduce excessive humidity and thus preventing undesirable condensation . The underground complex has 2 hatches , one as a main entrance connected with the dome , a second directly with the seed vault , to be used in case the first would become blocked . The main entrance is located at the end of a dolmen-style cave , connecting the library with the outside world . We intentionally made the entrance narrow , making physical entering difficult to prevent the building to be used for other purposes than the long term store of small items . Protecting its content by design , from the use as a living unit or animal stables .
Based on the design principle to use the current technologies and construction possibilities , the library builders created a resistant structure that otherwise would be very difficult to realize in a possible energy descent future . The constructors applied the most innovative construction techniques and materials , such as a special concrete mix and replacing steel by a combination of glass fibres and composite rebar to reinforce the concrete structure . Steel is susceptible to oxidation ( rust ), leading overtime to cracking and deterioration of reinforced concrete . Composite rebar won ' t rust or corrode , so it ' s ideal for a long-term structure , making it extremely durable and maintenance free . Another advantage is that the tensile strength of fibre rebar is several times higher than steel , providing excellent fatigue