The José Vasconcelos Library is part of a project that seeks to equip the north-central area of Mexico City with the cultural infrastructure it requires to detonate an urban resurgence; a resurgence that will allow the decay that has gripped this area to be reverted.

The construction of the José Vasconcelos Library began as the result of an international Architecture competition in which 590 proposals were submitted by firms from all over the world. The winning project belonged to the Mexican architect Alberto Kalach who conceptualized the library as a great Ark of knowledge, giving priority to the flexibility of space and the use of new computer technologies.

The library was recently concluded and it houses an initial heap of 500,000 volumes distributed in crystal shelves that hang from the five levels of the building. This Library also possesses a music room, conference rooms and an auditorium that seats 520 people.

An interesting aspect of this library is its botanical garden, which surrounds and protects the building from noise and creates a more intimate environment in the reading rooms. This botanical garden will be inaugurated soon and will have more than 25,000 m2 of gardens with vegetation characteristic of the Valley of Mexico.

Some of the services this library provides are a cafeteria, a bookshop, a space for temporary exhibitions and 700 available computers with internet access.

Next to the José Vasconcelos Library stands the Old Buenavista Train Station, which after years of neglect, is being equipped to function as a terminal for a suburban train and possibly also a bullet train that would connect Mexico City with Querétaro. In addition, a shopping centre is being built that will have department stores and a cinema, and which will probably turn this spot into one of the most important urban areas in the city.