The Helsinki Central Library Oodi, designed by ALA Architects, is topped with large open-plan reading room under an undulating roof punctured by circular skylights.
Finnish studio ALA Architects' design for the country's flagship library, which stands opposite the Finnish Parliament, aims to "embrace technology and progressive values to provide a variety of innovative services alongside its lending collection of books."
In fact, the 17,250-square-metre building contains a relatively small number of books ? around 100,000 ? with the majority of space dedicated to public amenities including a cinema, recording studios, a maker space, and areas for hosting exhibitions and events.

An existing facility in the neighbourhood of Pasila remains Helsinki's main lending facility and the administrative centre for the city library. The new building instead uses online services and book-sorting robots to offer users access to nearly 3.4 million books, which can be delivered to the building.

The ?98 million (£88 million) library, which is called Oodi after the Finnish word for "ode", occupies one of the last undeveloped sites in central Helsinki.
Its location facing the Finnish Parliament is intended to symbolise the relationship between the government and the citizens.

Oodi is situated within the Helsinki Cultural District, which also houses a nearby art museum featuring subterranean galleries topped with angled skylights that project up from the surface of a ...