There's much to treasure in the city's new Central Library, but the thing that gives us the most joy, that taps our childhood love of libraries, is the immense six-story atrium crisscrossed with bridges and staircases. The manner in which the Lake|Flato firm designed these walkways to cut through this vast expanse of space, awash in natural light from the roof skylights and east windows, gives new meaning to the term "flight of stairs." Added to the trippy magic of their look – like M.C. Escher studied architecture at Hogwarts – just the climb from floor to floor is an adventure, a quest for literary enchantment in a bibliophile's paradise.
