Baghdad Library

This will be the first public library to be built in Baghdad since the 1970s. Functionality, intuitive organisation, and rational userfriendly design were all key concepts that shaped the building from the inside out.

Designed to encourage intellectual, creative and social exchange, it will be a place where young people can come together and share ideas with each other and the rest of the world.

This elegant, multipurpose building is designed to engage and empower visitors, and to encourage open exchange. Digital technology is vital in order to enable interactive engagement with the rest of the world through the internet and social media. This will be an accessible library for all ages with access to a collection of over three million books along with rare manuscripts, and periodicals.

The practical and cultural importance of light is demonstrated through an encrypted message, written in Kufic script, in the design of the roof that forms the word ‘read’, which is documented as the first word spoken from God to the prophet in the Qur’an.