The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library / Mecanoo + OTJ Architects

After a three-year transformation by Dutch architecture firm Mecanoo, working in collaboration with OTJ Architects, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (MLKL) has re-opened in Washington D.C. The library, which opened in 1972, is reborn as a contemporary lifelong-learning hub that reaches out to all communities. It was the only library designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, one of the twentieth century’s greatest architects, and was subsequently named after Dr. King, the towering civil rights leader who was assassinated in 1968. Francine Houben, principal, founding partner, and creative director of Mecanoo, says: “We have been guided by Martin Luther King’s timeless values and implemented them in this, the most important library for the people of America’s capital”.