SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY’S CENTRAL LIBRARY
When it opened in 2004, the Seattle Public Library’s Central Library changed everything. The 21st-century library shouldn’t only celebrate the book, argued Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas of OMA, but “redefine [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][it] as an information store where all potent forms of media, new and old, are presented equally and legibly.” That thinking led to a reshuffling of the library’s functional components, generating a striking 363,000-square-foot structure with a glassy faceted shell.
The reading room feels as progressive as the office of a Silicon Valley start-up. In fact, the building has numerous high-tech features, including a computerized book-handling system, where volumes with RFID tags are automatically identified, sorted, and routed to readers. Other public levels, including the so-called mixing chamber, the living room, and the kids’ space, all bring library users together regardless of the intention of their visit or course of study.
ST. FLORIAN MONASTERY
Sankt Florian, Austria
A succession of monasteries has stood on the grounds since 819, but the current building, a masterwork of Baroque architecture, was completed in the 18th century. IThe library’s interior is a masterwork of Baroque architecture with elaborate carved-wood bookcases and balustrades with gilded details. A ceiling fresco by Bartolomeo Altomonte, completed in 1747, presents allegorical subjects who watch over the great room from the clouds.
STUTTGART CITY LIBRARY
Stuttgart, Germany
Envisioned as a contemporary rectilinear Pantheon for the modern age, the Stuttgart City Library, designed by the Cologne-based firm Yi Architects, is a cube-shaped building that pulls in sunlight through its translucent roof. The concrete façade is punctuated by a grid of glass blocks that offers a play of colorful lights at night—resulting in inevitable comparisons to a Rubik’s Cube.
The main circulation space and book stacks are located on the building’s top five floors, where a spiraling series of staircases gives the whole arrangement a funnel-like shape. Finishes are kept deliberately simple—bright white surfaces help mix and maximize both natural and artificial light to create study spaces that are decidedly crisp and fresh.
TRINITY COLLEGE OLD LIBRARY
Featuring the largest book collection in Ireland, Trinity College’s library has been continually growing since the college was established in 1592. In the early 18th century, the library gained a distinguished new home by Irish architect Thomas Burgh. Now dubbed the Old Library, the structure remains one of the country’s top tourist destinations. The Long Room, which features dark wood pilasters and a dramatic vaulted ceiling, is a showstopper.
BIBLIOTHECA ALEXANDRINA
Alexandria, Egypt
The original Library of Alexandria, established in the third century B.C., was one of the ancient world’s most important centers of knowledge until it was destroyed in the third century A.D. The new Bibliotheca Alexandrina, completed in 2002, was built in hopes of creating a similar destination for scholarship
The project marked the arrival of Snøhetta, a previously unknown architecture firm that beat out more than 1,400 competitors for the design commission (and went on to design many other high-profile buildings, among them the National September 11 Museum pavillion in New York). The enormous lopsided building, which tilts toward the Mediterranean Sea, holds a range of specialized libraries, four museums, a planetarium, a virtual-reality environment, academic research centers, art galleries, and a conference center.
CLEMENTINUM
Prague
Home of the National Library of the Czech Republic, the Clementinum is housed in a series of historic buildings, the oldest dating from the 11th century. With elaborate ceiling frescoes and spiraling wood columns topped by gilded capitals, there is no mistaking the aptly named Baroque Library’s grand ambitions. Containing a selection of unusual oversized globes, it offers a reminder of its former patrons’ quest for worldly knowledge.
UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN NEW LIBRARY
Aberdeen, Scotland
The University of Aberdeen, founded in 1495, is one of the world’s oldest English-language schools. However, its New Library, completed last year by Denmark’s Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects makes it clear that the university is anything but stuck in the past. With bold, irregular vertical stripes formed by insulated panels and high-performance glass, the building serves as a beacon for students while maximizing natural light and energy savings
The outside of the 167,000-square-foot building may be a strict box, but the interior is full of fluid curves. The eight floors wrap energetically around a central atrium, establishing an airy, light-filled environment. The layout creates a visual connection among the students—but when it’s time to focus, the building also offers 1,200 individual study spaces.
GEORGE PEABODY LIBRARY
Baltimore
Designed by Baltimore architect Edmund G. Lind and completed in 1878, the George Peabody Library is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful libraries in North America. The library’s interior is what most visitors find captivating—five book-filled floors with cast-iron balconies encircling a central atrium where, if you’re lucky, you can pull up a chair at one of the reading desks. The skylight 61 feet above allows sunlight to spill onto the black-and-white black-and-white marble floor.
MUSASHINO ART UNIVERSITY MUSEUM & LIBRARY
Tokyo
In addition to chairs and tables, there’s one piece of furniture you’re guaranteed to see in nearly every library—a bookshelf. But for the library at Musashino Art University, Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto took that idea to the extreme, building full-height walls “comprising enormous bookcases. Enclosed within the building’s glass façade, the otherwise ordinary storage units create a compelling architectural statement when used in multiples.
JOSÉ VASCONCELOS LIBRARY Mexico City
An immense fortress of a building surrounded by gardens, the 125,000-square-foot José Vasconcelos Library, designed by architect Alberto Kalach, is a major effort to promote increased Mexican literacy. The library’s interior has a futuristic appeal, featuring a soaring grand central hall inhabited by a matrix of glass-and-steel boxes. Appearing to hover in midair, the elevated bookshelves provide plenty of room for future growth—only one-third full at present, they offer space for 1.5 million books.
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