Sainte-Geneviève Library

The Sainte-Geneviève Library displays a long, rectangular stone facade marked by rows of arched windows, with the names of famous authors inscribed in gold lettering between them. Henri Labrouste designed this building in the middle of the nineteenth century to store books from the nearby Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève. Inside, two vast reading rooms sit atop the ground floor, supported by exposed iron columns. During the library's construction, some critics called the iron structure a glass house, mocking the use of industrial materials in a scholarly space.