Stockholm's Public Library

I have been looking forward to this visit for a long time, after studying this building so thoroughly during my first year of architecture school.

Access to the library from the street happens on this ramp, which takes you up to an elevated platform with seating for outdoor activities.

The concept is very clear: the rotunda houses the books, which are stored on three stories of bookshelves around the edges, accessed via narrow staircases. The room is daylit via high windows that light the white volume above, which is plastered with a texture that evokes a cloudy sky. Reading rooms flank opposite sides of the rotunda in long, rectangular volumes.

My visit was brief, but the library was really lovely. I can't wait to go back and spend some more time there.