World’s Richest Country Showcases Ancient Books in New Library
- A million books are held in the Rem Koolhaas-designed building
- Contains a page from one of the first copies of the Koran
Qatar's National Library.
Source: Qatar National Library
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Thousand year-old books have settled in the most futuristic of homes, gently cooled and shielded from the sun in an underground chamber of Qatar’s National Library.
Designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Rem Koolhaas, the library was opened by Qatar’s emir and his parents, who started the project in 2012. The family rules the world’s richest people, and that wealth has its perks. The photographs in this story were provided by Qatar National Library.