National Library of Belarus

The National Library opened in 2006 on Independence Avenue, and its form is the point: a rhombicuboctahedron, a twenty-six-sided solid, of glass and concrete raised on a plinth, seventy-two metres high, holding the book stacks in the geometric volume with reading rooms around the base. The exterior carries an LED array that runs patterns and text across the facade after dark, visible from a distance. An observation deck on the twenty-third floor gives a view over the eastern districts of the city and back toward the centre. The building divides opinion sharply and has appeared on lists of both the most striking and the ugliest buildings in Europe.

What you actually see

• The diamond form - the twenty-six-sided glass and concrete volume.
• The LED facade - the light patterns running after dark.
• The observation deck - the view over Minsk from the twenty-third floor.
• The reading rooms - the working library at the base.

When to go

Year round; the observation deck keeps daytime and evening hours. After dark for the facade light show, which runs in the evening. Clear days give the best view from the deck.

Honest expectations

The observation deck is charged and keeps its own hours, which are shorter than the library's. The view is over residential districts rather than a historic centre. The building is a working library and most of it is not open to visitors.

Nearby

Central Minsk lies west along Independence Avenue.