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Kansas City Public Library, Kansas, USA
The Central Branch of Kansas City Public Library became famous all over the world, when in 1999, the century-old building of the first National Bank with its marble columns, bronze doors and ornate mouldings was reconstructed to the library. However, what attracted so much attention was not the classical architecture, but the facade of the parking garage. The garage wall was designed to look like a row of giant books lined up on a shelf. The book spines, which measure approximately 25 feet by 9 feet, are made of signboard Mylar. The shelf showcases 22 titles reflecting a wide variety of reading interests as suggested by Kansas City readers and then selected by The Kansas City Public Library Board of Trustees. Library reconstruction was completed in 2004 and cost about US$50 million.
