The public library in Amsterdam is a unique place. About two million books are housed within these walls, making this collection the largest in Europe. Yes, there is plenty to read and see here.
The building of the Central Library is a colossal structure in a style that is hard to describe in words. It is glass and concrete, harmoniously woven into ten floors of asymmetrical windows and high-tech forms.
The library has about 1500 seats for readers, half of them with Internet access. In addition to books, a huge number of video materials, feature films, and documentaries are stored here. There are also halls - a lecture hall and an exhibition hall, as well as the Library Museum and the Gerard Reve Museum.
For the Dutch, who love everything eco-friendly, it was only natural to add the final touch in the form of parking for 2000 bicycles.
The cost of constructing this building, designed by the famous architect Jo Coenen, amounted to 80 million euros. And it was worth it, believe me: it is unlikely that anywhere else you will find a library of similar scale, combining monumental architecture and a concentration of human knowledge. This is exactly the case when form matches content.
