The Phrontisterion: Mona’s $100 Million Subterranean Library & Wing
A decade in the making and four years under construction, the Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Hobart, Tasmania, has opened its largest expansion yet: the Phrontisterion. This new subterranean library and wing more than doubles the museum’s footprint, with a budget that ballooned from $11 million to over $100 million.
Scale & Cost
- Massive Expansion: The new wing adds approximately 4,200 square meters of display space, bringing the museum’s total to roughly 12,640 square meters.
- Budget Surge: The cost for the Phrontisterion exceeded A$100 million, surpassing the A$75 million spent on the original museum building.
- Subterranean Engineering: Located beneath Mona’s Elektra amphitheatre, the wing required the excavation of approximately 20,000 cubic metres of soil and rock.
- Access: Entry to the library is included with a standard museum ticket.
The Library: A Collection Without Dewey
The library houses a collection of books, maps, and documents. Reports vary on the exact number, with estimates ranging from 30,000 to over 50,000 items.
Notable Holdings:
- A copy of William Shakespeare's First Folio (1623).
- A first edition of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita.
- Signed editions from authors Umberto Eco, JG Ballard, and Hunter S. Thompson.
- Handwritten documents by David Bowie, Walt Whitman, Gustave Flaubert, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Guglielmo Marconi, and Alexander Graham Bell.
- Digital duplicates of 60 rare books allow visitors to turn pages virtually.
Organization & Technology:
- Rejecting Dewey: According to founder David Walsh, the library does not use the Dewey Decimal System due to its “Eurocentric and Christian biases.”
- Proprietary System: A new cataloguing system, developed by Art Processors (the team behind Mona’s O app), uses digital photographs to track books. This allows items to be moved arbitrarily without fixed labeling.
- "Live Bays": Neon lighting highlights selected books.
- The Challenge: Library manager Mary Lijnzaad noted the difficulty of moving to a system that deviates from the Dewey standard.
Permanent Installations
The new wing features several permanent installations, including:
- "Breathe" by Julian Charrière – Visitors can inhale oxygen extracted from ancient iron ore.
- "Elektra" by Anselm Kiefer – An inverted concrete pyramid.
- Works by Matthew Barney, Joshua Yeldham, Lucas Grogan, Rachel Marks, and Ben Jakober.
- "In Absence" (2019) – A timber pavilion with hand-blown glass daisy yams, created by artist Yhonnie Scarce and architecture studio Edition Office. This piece is adjacent to the new wing.
Background & Statements
The name Phrontisterion comes from the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes’ The Clouds, meaning "a place of deep thinking or meditation."
- Founder’s Vision: David Walsh, a professional gambler who funds Mona through a gambling syndicate, stated the library corrects a "missed opportunity" and showcases the museum’s foundational philosophy.
- Value Over Luxury: Walsh remarked that the money invested could have purchased "a jet and an island or a big boat," but he chose to invest it in art instead.
- Pressure: He noted feeling more pressure with this opening than with the original museum due to community expectations.
- Personal Influence: Walsh stated on the museum’s blog that his childhood library experiences influenced the project.
- Tech Innovation: Nic Whyte of Art Processors stated that the digital book rendering is unprecedented and allows any book to be navigated.