he National Library of Boullee consists of a large rectangular space surrounded on the first levels by a collection of books. The Library's design proposes a paradoxical relationship between the book and the public space. The book is the main physical element that contributes to the congregation of a sublime large space. On the other hand, the public and the book are kept separate. The book, as a precious or sacred object, is reinforced by the fence that separates the shelf from the large public space.

The Helsinki Central Library is rooted in Boullee's diagram. It learns from the paradoxical relationship of the book, the space, and the public, radicalizing that idea and taking it to the extreme. In this case, the book proliferates throughout the internal elevation, and it becomes the only wrapper of the public space.

The project also reinforces the notion of the separation between the public and the book. The project reverses the stacking of books, giving them access only from the outside. In this way, the grand atrium can become a large public space suffused by possibilities; it becomes a potential meeting place, a trading area, a public square, a democratic agora, an open space for collective demonstrations, a games area, concerts, or public lectures.