6.3.13: Lima, Peru

Barranco Biblioteca

My dearest Kevin Yam, we have located our first biblioteca, but surely not our last! So, here are a few words on libraries and shelves, which have come up in interesting ways in the past few days here in Lima. Today we found this gorgeous old library in the Barranca neighborhood of Lima. (And when I say “we found it,” this simply means that we took ourselves somewhere we hadn't been before and we saw something that was new to us. It sure isn't like we were part of any kind of special discovery. People in Lima have known about it for over a hundred years.)

 

Barranco Biblioteca

It sits in a beautiful square with an equally beautiful fountain and rose bushes. We decided to try and wander on inside and see just how “municipal” it was and whether or not we'd be able to get in. Disappointingly, the charm ended with the edifice, because the small window gave a peek of some very scary old gray closed stacks and the 2 tables outside the window in a small room seemed to be the total of the reading room space. Kind of a sad library inside, though beautiful outside.  

Huaca Pucllana

The previous day we had a much more satisfying experience learning about this bookshelf-style of architecture used for adobe construction by Lima Culture peoples around 400 A.D. at a site called Huaca Pucllana. Quite a nicely organized structure, isn't it? I bet I'll be thinking more about ancient Peruvian architecture in the coming weeks, I'd guess, and maybe have a few more pictures to share and some interesting differences to note. But, for what might look like a pile of dirt, I was pretty damn impressed with the practicality of this approach and how well it has endured.  

Huaca Pucllana

-Cher