After being plotted at the very heart of the busy district of Makati, at an ancient plaza in Intramuros, and at the façade of Asia’s only all-steel church in Quiapo, WTA Architecture and Design Studio’s masterpiece will be placed in yet another bustling city.
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Now sporting a staircase-like structure that doubles as a roof for the book shelves below it, The Book Stop is set to be placed in front of Figaro in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) where most offices and recreational spaces are located.
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Hence, it still has the exact same goal since its launch to the public back in April 23, 2016 – to propagate the flow of ideas through “a book at a time.”
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Stop at Taguig
BY APEC STA. ANA
MASTERMIND. The Book Stop Project Architect William Ti poses for a photo op in front of its first stop in Intramuros. Photo by APEC STA. ANA
Everyone’s favorite bite-sized mobile library The Book Stop goes to Taguig.
According to its creator William Ti Jr., it first started just as an “urban initiative” of his own architectural firm [WTA].
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They started with only 260 books on the shelves; mostly children books. Now, they almost have thousands – thanking the high turnover.
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The idea of The Book Stop project also stems from Ti’s rationale of having books as a part of people’s daily routine.
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He even compared it with coffee chain Starbucks by saying, “How come there’s a Starbucks here, and there’s one across the road? Because you should not go out of your way to get a cup of coffee. So, you should not go out of your way to get a book. It’s just part of your daily routine.”
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It is also the University of Sto. Tomas’ alumnus’ desire to get the people of the community attached to the ‘mini public library.’
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“That’s why we’re staying for 2 months, not 2 weeks, to get the community involved,” he said.
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Ti also said that, hopefully, his mobile library can pressure local groups to do a permanent one, and see that there is a great need for it.
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Thus, it is only then when he can fully say that he has truly changed the game for a city of 14 million people, that doesn’t have a public library system.
BRAINCHILD. First edition of The Book Stop in front of Manila Cathedral. Photo by APEC STA. ANA