About a year and a half ago I was working with an architect who described this project to me through sketches. When I realised that it was in Paris and we were to be there I had to go an see it first hand. It was enormous! The library consists of four identical towers, or 'book ends', on a flat podium with the public library below facing into a large sunken courtyard. The towers have floor to ceiling colourless glass facades with timber screens behind which I understand help control the indoor climate and protect the collection. The podium is mostly timber surface which also appealed to me. Having experienced the building inside and out I found there to be a harmonious balance between the use of glass, steel, concrete and timber. The sciences exhibition there was also particularly fascinating. It included two
original globes offered to King Louis XIV which depict the known world and cosmos during the time of his reign.
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