Royal Library of Belgium

Brief Information

The modern Royal Library of Belgium stands on the Mont des Arts, but an important part of it is several centuries older than the building itself. The book collection began with the manuscripts of the Burgundian dukes in the 15th century. After the fire at Coudenberg Palace in 1731, most of the library survived and later became part of the state Royal Library.

The present building appeared only after the 1935 decision: because of the war, construction did not begin until 1954, and the opening took place in 1969. This is why the place is best read not as an old palace with books, but as a large postwar repository into which the memory of a much earlier collection has been built.

What to Notice First

It is worth comparing three scales of the building. The first is its vertical structure: ten floors above ground and six underground levels immediately show that the library was designed not only for reading rooms, but also for enormous holdings. The second is the length of the bookshelves: 150 kilometers turn the building into a storage machine, not simply a public interior.

The third scale is unexpectedly small and old: inside there is a medieval Gothic chapel where exhibitions are held. This detail changes the way one sees the library: among the rooms of the postwar building, a fragment of an entirely different architectural era is preserved. Another point of comparison is the cafeteria with a veranda and panoramic view of the city center: the library has not only the depth of its underground floors, but also an open connection with the city around it.