In Nanjing, China, a city nearly 2,500 years old, centennial celebrations often pass without much fanfare. But to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of its first public library, this ancient city in eastern China built a thoroughly modern structure to house a treasury of books, prints, and rare ancient manuscripts.

Designed by Gao Yujiang, a Chinese architect and professor at Zhejiang University, in collaboration with the Nanjing Architectural Design Institute (his former employer), the library's new home was designed as one of the country's foremost bibliographic institutions. The 11-story building ultimately will accommodate up to 12 million volumes and 3,000 readers, support new technologies that facilitate both cataloguing and research, and safeguard its archives.

To screen the interiors and their irreplaceable contents from high temperatures and harsh light, the design team specified banks of custom Aeroscreen perforated sun louvers. Mounted on the building's exterior, the louvers shade the building to minimize heat gain throughout the day.

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