The Mabic (Maranello Biblioteca Cultura – Maranello Library and Cultural Centre) was opened on 19 November 2011.
As well as housing the town library, the new multipurpose space was also designed to host cultural events, meetings and exhibitions.
Standing in the town centre, the Mabic was designed by architects Arata Isozaki and Andrea Maffei, whose proposal was selected from the many received by the town council in response to the international competition for ideas for the new library.
The Mabic’s forms evoke concepts of light and transparency, and the presence of natural elements: it is a transparent island, surrounded by areas of water and ivy-covered walls. Large windows allow daylight to flood the interiors.
55 years after the inauguration of Maranello’s first library, the institution was updated to create a multipurpose space able to host cultural activities and mix the wonders of books with those of modern architecture.
The new library is another addition to the list of fine architectural projects undertaken in Maranello – the Wind Tunnel by Renzo Piano, the Cittadella Ferrari by Massimiliano Fuksas and the Ferrari engine assembly building by Jean Nouvel – in a sort of permanent exhibition of contemporary architecture.
The Mabic is on two floors: on the ground floor, the library itself, with books on open shelves for adults and kids, accommodation for 90 readers and a lending counter, an infants’ and toddlers’ room (0 to 3 years), a newspaper and periodicals reading room, a Internet station and a small refreshment area. In the basement, a large lecture, events and happenings room, which since October 2013 has housed the exhibition of fossils from the collection of naturalist Francesco Coppi.
