The National Library of Latvia occupies the Castle of Light, an angular building across the Daugava from Old Riga. Its architecture, collections and People’s Bookshelf connect a modern research library with Latvian cultural memory.
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Across the Daugava from Old Riga, the National Library of Latvia rises in an angular silhouette known as the Castle of Light. Its shape belongs to a modern library, but its name draws on older Latvian cultural imagery. In January 2014, before the new building’s opening, people carried books towards it hand to hand: a public act that made the move itself part of the library’s story.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- The national library was founded in 1919; its present building opened in 2014.
- Gunārs Birkerts designed the Castle of Light in collaboration with Latvian colleagues.
- In 2014 a human chain passed books from the old library to the new building.
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