Europe’s most progressive library has a rooftop botanical backyard

Standing on the The roof backyard of the Warsaw College Library (Biblioteka Uniwersytecka w Warszawie) appears like the middle of the universe, or not less than of Poland. From the perch you possibly can see the spire of the Palace of Tradition and Science, the neighboring Copernicus Science Middle, the basket-shaped PGE Narodowy stadium and the banks of the Vistula River. Beneath, seen by means of giant arched home windows, it’s also straightforward to identify college students sitting within the school rooms beneath, surrounded by stacks of books.

There’s an inherent enchantment to library tourism: visiting the locations the place nations maintain their collective data and historical past. The Warsaw College Library is a very wealthy cease. Though this mental hub has solely existed on Dobra (“The Good”) Avenue for 26 years, the library has lengthy been an emblem of town’s wrestle for data. Since its founding in 1816, it has survived two world wars, the November 1830 rebellion and communism. At a time when, as soon as once more, books and data are underneath risk, each in the US and overseas, it’s also a reminder of the wealth of information that may be misplaced within the digital age.

The constructing is a radical departure from the Soviet-style block structure that outlined a lot of town’s character. As librarian Lilianna Nalewajska explains, its exterior, characterised by a sweet pink grille from the library’s outdated excavations (a symbolic hyperlink between previous and current), and a inexperienced facade with carvings within the form of Plato’s e book , the Polish poet Jan Kochanowski, and different numerous classics, are homages to what they include. That is significantly important contemplating the constructing’s building date was 1999, simply eight years after the autumn of communism, when many of those works have been closed to public entry.

“The thought of ​​the architects of this place, Marek Budzyński and Zbigniew Badowski, was to indicate that this is a crucial place for humanity,” explains Nalewajska. “However right here you can find texts from completely different cultures, from completely different attitudes. Guests move by means of the books to enter the sunshine. »

The constructing is product of glass and metal, a minimalist building designed to profit from gentle in the course of the quick winter days. Massive inexperienced beams span the glass ceiling, making a steel cover harking back to the forest. In 2002, the Polish Minister of Infrastructure awarded the library an award for its “excellent digital qualities”.

As Nalewajska notes, the symbolism of the doorway extends all through the constructing, significantly notable within the statues of Demosthenes and Sophocles, which stand on columns flanking the doorway.