National Library of Belarus

Viktor Kramarenko and Michael Vinogradov designed the National Library of Belarus as a gigantic diamond - a symbol of the knowledge stored in the books within. During the day, the 23-storey glazed building reflects the light and glitters like a true diamond. To maintain this image at night the architects teamed up with Walter Industries to design a lighting system that is as spectacular as the building itself. The system, which is integrated with the façade, consists of 4646 RGB colour-changing LED fixtures (custom-made), 1349 controllers, 54 splitters, a channel splitter, a converter and a computer that directs the light shows with the aid of custom-designed software. The result is visible from hundreds of metres away and ensures that the library is the new icon of Minsk 24 hours a day.