Bibliotheca Alexandria, (Alexandria, Egypt), 1989 - Present, Contemporary Architecture
The Bibliotheca Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt was built to commemorate the historical library of Alexandria which burned down after its slow decline which began in the 3rd century AD. The Library of Alexandria is known the be the largest and most concentrated place of knowledge in all of ancient history. Construction of the Bibliotheca Alexandria began in 1989 and was completed in 2001.The 11 story library can hold up to four million volumes of books, up to eight million if compact storage was to be used. Programmatically the project is very interesting as it consists of a planetarium, several museums, a school for informatio n science, and conservation facilities. This project is largely characterized by its massive circular tilted-off-axis form. “The main concept of the project is a disc rising from the water, representing the past, tilting towards the future, with the ground level representing the present Main building of library complex. by a granite wall ca...