CĂRTUREȘTI CARUSEL, AN AMAZING NEW BOOKSTORE IN BUCHAREST

Last week, our city had a grand opening to celebrate. ‘Cărturești Carusel‘ or the ‘Carusel of light‘ is the newest bookstore in town, located in the Old City actually, on one of the most historical streets for merchants, Lipscani. The edifice is an impressive and courageous project however you look at it – historically, architecturally, commercially and -why not – socially, as people and most of all youngsters come and spend a lot of time in this new hip place. The bookstore is located in a six-level building from the nineteenth century, owned by a family of Greek bankers since 1903. During the communist era it was confiscated and turned into a men clothing store but in the ’90s it was recuperated by the great-grandson Jean Chrissoveloni who decided to give it a noble purpose and decided to the bookstore. The building was reconditioned with great respect for the old construction. ‘Our idea of restoring focussed somewhere between old and new. Using a contemporary language, we minimised the chromatic elements in order to make room for the play of lights and shadows generated by the central skylight. The sinuous shape of the floors creates a dynamic atmosphere similar to a moving carousel’, architects from Square One said. And it is called the ‘Carusel of light’ due to the fact that almost all of the interior, including its many 19th century flourishes, has been painted white. The 10,700-square-foot space is designed to hold 10,000 volumes and 5,000 albums and DVDs. It also has a computerized book search system, a basement multimedia space, first floor art gallery, and top floor bistro. If it happens to visit Bucharest in the future, make sure to pay them a visit! It is worth your while to stop by and spend some time here, also is a good opportunity of finding souvenirs for your close ones.