Library of Birmingham by Mecanoo
Dutch studio Mecanoo has completed Europe's largest public library in Birmingham, England, with a sunken amphitheatre, rooftop gardens and a shimmering facade clad with interlocking metal rings (+ slideshow). More
Dutch studio Mecanoo has completed Europe's largest public library in Birmingham, England, with a sunken amphitheatre, rooftop gardens and a shimmering facade clad with interlocking metal rings (+ slideshow). More
An ancient archeological excavation determined the layout of this public library in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta by Madrid architects Paredes Pedrosa. More
News: work has started on the Bibliothèque Multimédia à Vocation Régionale (BMVR) - an X-shaped public library designed by OMA for the old port area of Caen, northern France (+ slideshow). More
News: Finnish studio ALA Architects has won the international competition to design a new public library in Helsinki with plans that involve a mass of twisted timber (+ slideshow). More
News: British-Iraqi firm AMBS Architects has disclosed its designs for the first public library to be built in Iraq since the 1970s. More
The faceted surfaces of this library in the French town of Montauban by Paris architecture studio Colboc Franzen & Associés follow the lines of historical roads bordering the site (+ slideshow). More
Four courtyards penetrate the rectilinear volume of this concrete library in Spain by architects Ramon Esteve Estudio (+ slideshow). More
News: Herzog & de Meuron has been chosen to design the new National Library of Israel in Jerusalem after the initial competition winner was dismissed over a copyright dispute. More
Mexican architects Fernanda Canales and Arquitectura 911sc have wrapped a concrete and glass frame around the front of an old house in Mexico City to convert the building into a library (+ slideshow). More
Architecture firm Snøhetta has completed a library at North Carolina State University that features a robotic book retrieval system and a 3D printing workshop (+ slideshow). More
Mexican studio JSa has installed a walnut-lined wing to the José Vasconcelos Library in Mexico City to house the personal book collection of celebrated author Carlos Monsiváis (+ slideshow). More
Italian architects DAP Studio added a perforated aluminium tower to this former chapel in the Italian town of Lonate Ceppino, converting the entire building into a public library. More
This virtual library shelf would let New York subway passengers read the first 10 pages of a book on their smartphones before directing them to the nearest library to pick up a hard copy (+ movie). More
News: a library dedicated to design has opened in South Korea's capital city, offering access to over 11,000 books chosen by an international team of curators and critics. More
News: America's first fully digital public library without a single book is set to open this autumn in San Antonio, Texas, and will be based on the design of an Apple store. More
News: UK firm Foster + Partners has unveiled plans to overhaul New York Public Library's flagship branch on Fifth Avenue by inserting a contemporary lending library into unused reading rooms and stacks at the back of the building. More
A glazed reading room appears to float over the still waters of a shallow pool at this town library in Maranello, Italy, by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki and Italian architect Andrea Maffei (+ slideshow). More
Huge photographic prints conjure the illusion of translucent marble over the glass walls of this music library at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany (+ slideshow). More
This university library in Paris by French practice Beckmann-N’Thépé Architectes has a knobbly concrete facade that looks like blocks of earth. More
World Architecture Festival 2012: in this movie we filmed at the World Architecture Festival, Chinese architect Li Xiaodong tells Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs how "sustainability is a must" for new buildings in China, because if the country doesn't get it right it's "the end of the world". More