San Antonio Central Library Receives TxA 25-Year Award

Known for its “Enchilada Red” exterior and bold geometric profile, the San Antonio Central Library offers a Texan take on Mexican Modernist design. In recognition of its role as a local landmark and cultural touchstone, the Central Library has been awarded the Texas Society of Architects’ 25-Year Award, which honors its enduring architectural significance. Designed to resonate amongst San Antonians from all walks of life, this playful building speaks to the values of involvement and festivity that characterize the city. 

In 1989, San Antonio voters approved a $28 million bond to fund the construction of the new Central Library and upgrade their city’s library system. The San Antonio Public Library Foundation raised an additional $10 million to fund the project, demonstrating the city’s commitment to promoting lifelong learning. An architectural design competition was hosted in July of 1991, with jurors unanimously selecting a team spearheaded by renowned Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta of Legorreta Arquitectos, working in partnership with San Antonio’s Sprinkle Robey Architects and Johnson-Dempsey & Associates. The winning design blended aesthetics and functionality to create a friendly, inviting building that elevated the role of the library to that of a bustling community hub. The selection of a Mexican architect to design this new civic landmark was significant; San Antonio has one of the largest Spanish-speaking populations in the country, and appointing Legorreta to lead the design meant that the new library would not only meet the city’s practical needs but also aid in reflecting its heritage through its public institutions. 

Situated on a triangular site formerly occupied by a Sears store, the geometry of the building was determined by a combination of programmatic requirements and site constraints. Composed of a series of rotated and segmented volumes, the vibrant red envelope is complemented by columns, baffle walls, and sculptural elements painted in equally vivid shades of purple and yellow. Legorreta’s use of color as a building material—not just as decoration—animates the facade and connects it to the shared cultural history of the city. In selecting colors for the project, Legorreta drew inspiration from the red clay of Central Mexico, the work of celebrated Mexican muralists, and the brilliant clothing of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. In a predominantly Hispanic-American city, the bright colors of the Central Library are thus a tribute to a shared cultural memory. 

The 240,000-sf Central Library opened to the public on May 20, 1995. With a capacity for 750,000 books, the new library was nearly double the size of the previous central branch. Its opening saw library visitorship triple; in addition to the architectural novelty of the building, the library offered unprecedented access to state-of-the-art technology and bilingual resources. Legorreta sought to encourage repeat visits to the library by imbuing his design with a sense of wonder and discovery. The building must be explored gradually, with forced perspective and view framing strategies making it impossible to see the entire structure at once. Visitors’ attention is instead directed outward to a fragment of native landscape, or inward to a uniquely lit reading room. Legorreta played with light and shadow in all parts of the building, utilizing slot windows, skylights, and enclosed courtyards to conflate indoor and outdoor space. 

The building responds to the sun-baked Texas climate by providing plentiful shade and deep overhangs. A variety of recessed and sunken terraces and courtyards grant dramatic views of downtown San Antonio, functioning as outdoor reading rooms accented by foliage and water features. Each floor of the library varies in size and shape, encouraging visitors to wander between them. Legorreta wanted to evoke a sense of freedom in the space, offering an abundance of choice and flexibility for future uses. On the third floor, the children’s section contains child-sized stacks, miniature furnishings, and abundant natural light to serve the library’s youngest patrons. 

The six above-ground floors of the library are organized around a central atrium. Doused in yellow and illuminated by skylights, this area is the focal point of the building’s interior. Visitors ascend into the atrium via escalator, which dramatically reveals the space in slow-motion. At the center of the yellow volume sits Dale Chihuly’s Fiesta Tower sculpture. Commissioned in 2003 to commemorate the centennial of the San Antonio Public Library system, Fiesta Tower is composed of 917 individually shaped pieces of glass. The sculpture is over 26 feet tall with a total weight of 4,500 pounds—an artwork that would appear massively oversized anywhere but here. Although it was created and installed well after the building’s completion, Fiesta Tower’s striking primary colors and strong geometries meld effortlessly with the atrium, giving the space an air of celebration and vivacity that supports the original design intent of the building. 

Additional artworks from internationally acclaimed artists are incorporated throughout the building, fulfilling the library’s goal of increasing public access to art alongside their literary and technological offerings. The artworks are paired with complementary architectural spaces, as with Stephen Antonakos’s Blue Room installation, which greets visitors as they enter from the sunny forecourt. The blue neon lights establish a change of setting from the chaos and noise of daily life to the calm, cool interior of the library. In the lobby, an artwork by Jesse Amado commemorates the life of Linda Pace, a patron of the arts in San Antonio. Sculptures by Latin American artists such as Fernando Botero and Sebastián—also known for his Torch of Friendship, a landmark in downtown San Antonio—are positioned on the spacious main floor. Works by Jesse Treviño, Rogelio Madero de la Peña, Danville Chadbourne, and a rotating cast of other artists can be found scattered throughout the building. Each work is situated within the library in a manner that draws equal attention to art and architecture, strengthening the bond between the two. The incorporation of artworks by a variety of local and Latin American artists makes the Central Library a cultural destination for residents and tourists alike.  

Legorreta’s design for the San Antonio Central Library, once controversial for its boldness, has risen to landmark status not only for its fearlessness in design, but also for its accuracy in representing the spirit of the community it serves. In a city that has only continued to evolve over the past three decades, the Central Library remains a prominent hub for learning and living, demonstrating the foresight and cultural connection deeply instilled in its design. In the scope of San Antonio’s continued growth, its Central Library remains an important part of the shared identity and strong sense of community that defines this city.