Biblioteca Vasconcelos in Mexico City, Mexico

Open, scaffold-like shelving and see-through walls turn a day at the library into an artistic experience in the Biblioteca Vasconcelos. The 820-foot building, designed by Alberto Kalach, lies within a verdant botanical garden that was once a barren area of Mexico City. Named after Mexican writer José Vasconcelos, the institution also acts as a gallery for artists to display their work like the Gabriel Orozco's Ballena, a sculpture made from a whale skeleton.

Minimalist yet breathtaking, the concrete arches of the Tama Art University Library in Tokyo echo ancient vaulted spaces such as wine cellars and storied libraries. Architect Toyo Ito completed the sleek structure in 2007 with the intent that the curved details seamlessly flow with the slopping outside landscapes. The first floor features an open gallery space for various art exhibitions with nearly 100,000 books making up the second-floor stacks.