Phrontisterion – Mona Library

Architect: Fender Katsadilis (2026)

Phrontisterion: A Library Like No Other

Presented by: Design Institute of Australia
Tour leaders: Demelza, Graphic Designer, and Adrian Spinks, Design Director, Mona

What does a library look like when there are no rules about how a library should look?

Step inside Phrontisterion, Mona’s extraordinary underground library, and discover a space where books, architecture, interiors, graphics and wayfinding come together in unexpected ways.

Home to more than 30,000 books, maps and rare volumes, Phrontisterion is much more than a place to store a collection. The design invites you to explore, discover and get a little lost, rethinking the familiar relationship between books, people and place.

Look closely and you’ll discover the layers of design behind the experience, from the architecture and interiors to the graphic language and unconventional approach to finding your way around. Hear directly from graphic designer Demelza and Mona Design Director Adrian Spinks about the ideas, challenges and creative decisions that brought this remarkable space to life.

This special tour, presented by the Design Institute of Australia, offers a rare opportunity to look behind the scenes and understand how a library can become an experience in its own right.

Come and have a look, explore the unexpected and discover a library designed to make you curious.

Tour: Sun 8 Nov, 10.30am (bookings required)

Please note: The library tour is free. If interstate visitors wish to visit the main museum afterwards, museum admission must be purchased separately at the main museum entrance. Photography for personal, non-commercial use is permitted, but flash photography is not allowed inside the museum.