Standing on the backyard rooftop of the Warsaw College Library (Biblioteka Uniwersytecka w Warszawie) looks like being on the heart of the universe, or no less than of Poland. From the perch, you may see the spire of the Palace of Tradition and Science, the next-door Copernicus Science Centre, the basketlike PGE Narodowy stadium, and the banks of the Vistula River. Beneath, seen by means of giant arching home windows, it’s additionally straightforward to identify college students sitting within the school rooms beneath, surrounded by stacks of books.

There’s an inherent enchantment to library tourism—seeing the locations the place nations maintain their collective information and historical past. Warsaw College Library makes for a very wealthy cease. Whereas this mental hub has solely been standing at Dobra (“Good”) Road for 26 years, the library has been a long-standing image of the town’s struggle for information. Since its founding in 1816, it’s survived each World Wars, the November Rebellion in 1830, and communism. At a time when, as soon as once more, books and information are threatened, each within the US and overseas, it’s additionally a reminder of the wealth of information that may be misplaced within the digital period.

The constructing strays dramatically from the Soviet-style block structure that has outlined a lot of the town’s character. As librarian Lilianna Nalewajska explains, its exterior, that includes a candy-colored pink grate from the previous library digs (a symbolic hyperlink between the previous and the current), and a inexperienced façade with book-like engravings from Plato, Polish poet Jan Kochanowski, and different numerous classics, are tributes to what’s contained inside. It’s notably significant when you think about the development date of the constructing in 1999, a mere eight years after the autumn of communism, when lots of these works have been restricted from public entry.

“The concept of the architects of this place, Marek Budzyński and Zbigniew Badowski, was that it ought to present that this is a crucial place for humanity,” Nalewajska says. “However right here one can find textual content taken from totally different cultures, totally different attitudes. Guests come by means of the books into the sunshine.”

The constructing is fabricated from glass and metal, a minimalist building, designed to profit from mild on quick winter days. Giant inexperienced beams arch throughout the glass ceiling, making a metallic, forest-reminiscent cover. In 2002, Poland’s Minister of Infrastructure bestowed the library with an award for its “excellent digital qualities.”

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