Europe’s most innovative library has a botanical garden on the roof

standing in the The roof garden of the Warsaw University Library (Biblioteka Uniwersytecka w Warszawie) gives the feeling of being in the center of the universe, or at least of Poland. From the top you can see the spire of the Palace of Culture and Science, the nearby Copernicus Science Center, the basket-shaped PGE Narodowy stadium and the banks of the Vistula River. Below, visible through large arched windows, it is also easy to see students sitting in the study rooms below, surrounded by stacks of books.

There is an inherent appeal to library tourism: seeing the places where nations keep their collective knowledge and history. The Warsaw University Library is an especially interesting stop. Although this intellectual center has only existed for 26 years on Dobra (“Good”) Street, the library has long been a symbol of the city’s struggle for knowledge. Since its founding in 1816, it has survived both world wars, the November Uprising of 1830 and communism. At a time when books and knowledge are once again under threat, both in the United States and abroad, it is also a reminder of the wealth of knowledge that can be lost in the digital age.

The building is a dramatic departure from the blocky Soviet-style architecture that has defined much of the city’s character. As librarian Lilianna Nalewajska explains, its exterior, which features a candy-colored pink fence from the old library (a symbolic link between the past and present), and a green façade with engravings that look like books by Plato, the Polish poet Jan Kochanowski , and other various classics, are tributes to what it contains. It is particularly significant considering the building’s construction date in 1999, just eight years after the fall of communism, when many of these works had restricted access to the public.

“The idea of ​​the architects of this place, Marek Budzyński and Zbigniew Badowski, was to show that this is an important place for humanity,” says Nalewajska. “But here you will find texts taken from different cultures, different attitudes. “Visitors come to the light through books.”

The building is made of glass and steel, a minimalist construction, designed to make the most of the light on the short winter days. Large green beams arch through the glass roof, creating a metallic canopy reminiscent of a forest. In 2002, the Polish Minister of Infrastructure gave the library an award for its “outstanding digital qualities”.

As Nalewajska points out, the symbolism of the entrance extends throughout the building, particularly notable in the statues of Demosthenes and Sophocles, which stand on columns flanking the entrance.