Warsaw School of Economics

Most 1930s libraries moved books by hand. This one used elevators. Architect Jan Witkiewicz Koszczyc won first place in a competition to design the Warsaw School of Economics library, then promptly ignored how every other library in the country worked. Construction began in mid-1928 and was completed in September 1930, with an interior organization diametrically opposed to existing libraries already considered functionally obsolete.

Instead of endless corridors lined with stacks, Witkiewicz Koszczyc designed the library to move books vertically. Small lifts carried volumes between floors, while reading rooms were calculated to seat 1,000 people at once. Plenty of glass, huge skylights, and elegant finishes were intended to promote tranquility rather than intimidation.

The library was designed to store up to 750,000 books, but thanks to its efficient organization it now holds more than one million volumes. On February 25, 1945, it became the first library to reopen its doors to the public in the ruined city of Warsaw. Nearly a century later, it still functions much as its architect intended, proof that sometimes the fastest way forward is up.