The Latvian National Library stands on the west bank of the Daugava in Riga, designed by Latvian-American architect Gunnar Birkerts and completed in 2014 as the country's principal repository of national heritage and public knowledge. The building is organised around a crystalline stepped pyramid in glass and concrete — a form drawn from Latvian folk mythology — rising to a jagged crown of glazed spires. Inside, a multi-storey book treasury sits at the heart of the section, its amber shelves visible through a full-height glazed wall from the central atrium, while open staircases and timber-floored reading floors connect a programme that is simultaneously monumental and in daily public use.
