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April 4: Stadsbibliotek

The Stockholm Public Library, designed by Gunnar Asplund and completed in 1928, is one of the most famous examples of Nordic classicism.

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Here it is just coming into view.

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Right next to it is Observatorielunden, a park on a steep hill.

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The terra-cotta color is quite striking against the blue sky.

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The entrance.

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In the foyer, looking through to the rotunda.

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This material is a special sort of highly worked plaster that has a polished-stone-like finish. I can't remember what it's called.

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Inside the rotunda.

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One of the side reading rooms.

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Looking back on axis across the rotunda and out from the foyer.

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There are these narrow passages around the edge of the rotunda.

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Sun on the balcony.

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The way the sunlight through the clerestory windows lands on the walls and floor is all kinds of cosmological.

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Out the front window.

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A rather remarkable little sink in one of the reading rooms.

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Up to the ceiling.

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Lunchtime! Wherever there is falafel, there is a Falafel King.