Library Projects – Nowadays, due to technology and trailblazing design, libraries are no longer a silent sanctuary of books.  Join Best Design Books on this journey and find out the most insane library projects: The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, Chicago The University of Chicago’s Mansueto Library has 3.5 million books that are stored underground in a repository tended by robotic cranes, while a glass dome covers an expansive reading room upstairs. The architect Helmut Jahn says that by putting the book storage below, they were free to create an open and luminous space. Philological Library, Berlin The Philological Library on the campus of the Free University of Berlin has been applauded for its eco-intelligent structure. It was the British architect, Norman Foster that spent years researching and experimenting with how buildings can employ active and passive technologies to increase energy efficiency. Tianjin Binhai Library, Tianjin, China This futuristic library was designed by Dutch firm Mvrdv. It features an atrium with floor-to-ceiling shelving that appears to house an endless number of books. And guess what? Not all books are real. The inaccessible shelves have been filled with aluminum plates digitally printed with book images. Austin Central Library, Austin, Texas This library has attracted attention for its hyper-flexible design and sustainable resource use. In 2017 the joint venture between architectural firms Lake Flato and Shepley Bulfinch was completed and responds to Texas’s droughts with a 373,000-gallon rainwater system created from a concrete…