The iconic Art Deco architecture of the Richard J. Riordan Central Library in Los Angeles is home to more than 10 million articlesmaking it the third largest library in the country. The institution is also celebrating its centenary this year. So what better way to usher in a new century of reading and learning than with the largest pop-up book ever created?
Commissioned by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles in collaboration with the Los Angeles Public Library, an LA-based artist and printmaker Daniel Gonzalez conceived as a monumental ode to knowledge, discovery and imagination. “Luceros y Penumbras” also nods to the building’s history and takes a prominent place in the elegant rotunda surrounded by Dean Cornwell’s muralsdepicting the history of California and were completed in 1933.
With the help of a paper engineer Matthew Reinhartthe project even surpassed the previous Guinness World Record for the largest pop-up book by measuring approximately 10 by 6 meters when opened (the previous record holder’s dimensions were approximately 29 by 5 meters). The design will be over 3 meters high and weigh almost a ton in total. It is also made from materials commonly used to produce standard books, such as fabric, paper and glue.
González draws on his own memories and associations with Los Angeles and the library’s role as a beacon, the ‘light of learning’. One of the spreads is centered around a large tree with the city skyline in the background and motifs representing its diverse cultures, ecology and traditions. The second shows the facade of LA’s Central Library, along with the bilingual recording of the phrase, “Every person is a library.”
‘Luceros y Penumbras’ will be on display until November 2026 alongside gems from the library’s Toy Moveable Collection, an archive consisting of more than 2,000 pop-up books and objects.
