After a long and fruitful career, Tadao Ando decided that it was time for him to make an altruistic contribution to Osaka, the city where he was raised and developed as an architect. Ando wanted to pay tribute to the children of Osaka, the next generation of Japan, through a building based on two essential concepts: the idea of growth associated to childhood, and the belief that books are nutrition for the developing mind. By creating a children’s library, both concepts are fused to create a place for knowledge: a truly ‘free’ architecture to read and enjoy books.

With the understanding that Ando would take care of the construction costs, the city government agreed to cede a site adjacent to Nakanoshima Park, located on an island that harbors some of the city’s cultural institutions. The library is an arc shape that is connected with Dojima River, along the rear facade, through a large terrace covered by a concrete canopy. A triple-story atrium with full-height bookshelves characterizes the interior, and each of the unique architectural elements including the stairs, bridges, and passageways are composed like a three-dimensional labyrinth of Escher.