What You'll Find Underground At This Illinois University Will Blow Your Mind

A lot of us reminisce about the good old days in college, but few of us romanticize those late nights cramming in the library. Well, maybe if you went to college where this amazing library is, you would feel differently. I’m talking about the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library at the University of Chicago. Now right away, you can tell this library is special, but it’s actually what’s on the inside that is super neat.

Arkht/Facebook

The library was designed by Helmut Jahn, renowned architect. The dome design gives it a futuristic feel. It opened in 2011.

Related Stories

You'll Never Guess The Purpose Of This Illinois Building That Looks Like A Medieval Fortress

12 Historical Landmarks You Absolutely Must Visit In Illinois

Here Are The 10 Oldest Towns In Illinois... And They're Loaded With History

Arkht/Flickr

Everything is state of the art, and it's incredible to view the dome from the inside. At its highest point, the dome is 35 feet tall.

Advertisement

Arkht/Flickr

The designers anticipated a turn towards the digital, and had to balance that with an ever-growing catalog of books. The solution: building a library with a storage capacity of 3.5 million volumes. Now, that might not mean much to you, but there is so much space here, they shouldn't run out for 20 years. There isn't a library with a larger automated retrieval system in North America. Rather than poke around the scary stacks, you put in a request, and the book is retrieved for you. By robots.

There’s actually a really cool video about how the library works. And it’s legitimately cool, guys. No pocket protectors needed to view it.

Seriously, guys, I am ready to hit the books. Huge plug for the Facebook page Arkht, bringing you images of some of the very coolest pieces of art and architecture from around the world.