M.C. Escher, in built form

Perusing the internet today I came across artdaily.com, billing itself as The First Art Newspaper on the Net. While its architecture section merely links to other pages on the web, that's even a little more than could be expected of a site devoted to art. But what I found interesting on the page, aside from the daily news and extensive listings of galleries, museums and artists, is their library.


Photo by Erasto Carranza

With more than 10,000 volumes at ArtDaily since its 1996 inception, it was obvious a library would be required to house them all and any future acquisitions. Not knowing exactly how to catalog or arrange them in what type of space, they started from an image in art: Escher's stairs to nowhere. Stating that the stairs, "take one to the limit of the possibility to take you to the impossible," they turned to young architect Betty Ayala, working with stair designer Ignacio Villarreal, to design what you see here.

While the stairs enliven the space, I'm also struck by the old-fashioned layout, placing the books at the periphery instead of in the middle, as is the norm today. But perhaps this decision is due to its existence as a private library and not a public library, and the desire to make the stairs the focus instead of the books.