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The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is built on a magnificent site alongside Alexandria's ancient harbor in the historic center of the city. The 11-story library can contain up to 4 million volumes of books, and can be expanded up to 8 million by the use of compact storage. In addition to the library facilities, it also contains other cultural and educational functions including a planetarium, several museums, a school for information science, and conservation facilities.
Characterized by its circular, tilting form, the building spans 160 meters in diameter and reaches up to 32 meters in height, while also diving some 12 meters into the ground. An open plaza and reflecting pool surrounds the building, and a footbridge links the city to the nearby University of Alexandria.
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Snøhetta
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Snøhetta:
Snøhetta is a transdisciplinary, dialogue-driven practice including architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, art, product design, graphic and digital design, often integrating a combination of interests across our projects. We share our name with a beautiful, remote, and historically important mountain in central Norway. Snøhetta is a place nobody is from, but anyone can experience. Creating places for societies to connect with each other and with the world around them is a primary motivation in our work. Dialogue and diversity empower this approach. Snøhetta first significant commission was in 1989 for Bibliotheca Alexandrina, reviving the ancient library in Alexandria, Egypt. This was followed by commissions for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo and the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the World Trade Center in New York City. Since those early projects, many other internationally acclaimed works have been realized around the globe. source: snohetta.com
