This French Library Is a Modern Work of Art

In France, just a dozen kilometers from the Luxembourg border, you will find the municipality of Thionville, an area best known for their steel mills. Within Thionville, amidst the trees, streets and daily traffic you will find a 4,500-square-foot, $12 million library that is one of the most gorgeous buildings we’ve ever seen. Designed by Dominique Coulon and Associates, the public library is a collection of completely unique spaces like gardens, private rooms, a cafe, multi-purpose rooms and meeting areas that has been given a unified feel despite its disparate elements. You can skate from the roof into the main areas via a grass covered ramp. You can play cello in a small, stone-covered room before moving into a larger room with completely different acoustics. You can read in a fishbowl chair hung from the ceiling, a nook built into the wall or a small media room covered in pink carpet. This library is a place you’d actually go to hang out with your friends.