Abbey Library of St. Gall, Switzerland
Abbey Library of St. Gall, Switzerland
Sir Duncan Rice Library, University of Aberdeen, Scotland
Sir Duncan Rice Library, University of Aberdeen, Scotland
Sir Duncan Rice Library, University of Aberdeen, Scotland
Sir Duncan Rice Library, University of Aberdeen, Scotland
Trinity College Dublin Library, Ireland
The Black Diamond, Royal Library of Copenhagen, Denmark
The Black Diamond, Royal Library of Copenhagen, Denmark
The Black Diamond, Royal Library of Copenhagen, Denmark
National Library of Ireland
Luckenwalde Library, Germany
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Centre, Humboldt University Berlin
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Centre, Humboldt University Berlin
Halmstad City Library, Sweden
Halmstad City Library, Sweden
Philological Library of the Free University, Berlin, Germany
Philological Library of the Free University, Berlin, Germany
Libraries are frequently a place of interest for interior designers and these architects and designers from all over the world have excelled in making their libraries truly beautiful.
Even going back thousands of years ago, looking at Egyptian, Greek, Persian and Roman history, libraries have always served as bastions of civilization, protectors of free thought and breeding grounds of ideas. And throughout history, architects have designed libraries as vast and awe-inspiring as the miles of books they house. A new, lavish coffee-table book, Libraries, pays homage to 44 of these vaults of wisdom around the world. In these photos, spines of shelved books appear like ornate mosaics; labyrinthine stacks seem like architectural gestures.
“We, as architects, have a unique opportunity to design libraries which support new ways for people to meet, interact, and share knowledge,” architect Bjarne Hammer writes in the book’s forward. From the centuries-old Trinity College Dublin library, to the ultra-modern Seattle Central Library, with its latticed metallic façade, these cathedrals of knowledge are varied in their outward designs, but serve the same vitally important end: to empower people by making books free and accessible.
Libraries is available from Roads Publishing here.