emiliaorbita's blog: The Largest Library In Africa

The largest Library in Africa is the Bibliotheca Alexandrine. It is located on the shore in Alexandria, Egypt. The Library was designed by Snohetta and its owned by Egyptian ministry of education.

building is tilted.

the use of curtain walls to let in natural light

The library is the most expensive building in Africa costing $200 million. the library construction started in 1995 and commissioned in 16th October 2002. The building has eleven cascading levels and spans a diameter of 160meters with a height of 32meters above ground and 12 meters into the ground. The building has a glass-paneled roof which is tilted out towards the sea. from aerial view, the building looks like a wedge disc with some part submerge into the ground.

The library has a pool, which is adjacent to the library exterior walls.

The exterior concrete walls has inscription and carvings on it. The Library shelves are design to accommodate about 8 millions books, while the reading area is about 70,000m2.The library contains, cultural and educational functions, which includes a school for information and science, conservation facilities, conference center specialized libraries for maps, multimedia, the blind and visually impaired, young people and for children, museums, art galleries, permanent exhibitions, a planetarium and a manuscript restoration laboratory.