A Tadao Ando intervention where silence, concrete, and children’s books somehow become the same soothing thing.
Library in Tokyo, Japan.
Featured in Tadao Ando's definitive monograph, Tadao Ando: Complete Works 1975–Today.
Visitor Guide
It’s free—use it like a reset button: walk in, take the central space slowly, then sit down and read something (yes, even as an adult) to understand the building’s real brief.
Ueno Park path just outside the main approach, mid-morning (around 10:00) for clean facade light; then shoot the interior concrete-and-old-building contrast near opening (9:30–10:00) before it fills with families.
Yes—public library/museum facility with free entry. Typically open 9:30–17:00 and closed Mondays (plus holidays and regular monthly closure days).
Ando’s move here is surgical: the new concrete insertion doesn’t ‘match’ the historic shell—it forces you to read time as an architectural material.
45–90 minutes
Design & Structure
Adaptive reuse as a design method: a precise concrete geometry inserted into an older building, using sharp junctions, controlled daylight, and circulation editing to make the old/new relationship unavoidable.
Exposed concrete (new) against the older historic fabric—important because the project is literally about the friction between them, not harmony.
The engineering feat is restraint: inserting new structural concrete and circulation while keeping the historic envelope legible and stable.
See Together
Buildings that pair well with International Library of Children's Literature — they're nearby or share a compelling architectural conversation.
More by Tadao Ando
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Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Piccadilly Gardens
Kaminoge Station
Clark Art Institute
Shikoku Mura
Onomichi City Museum of Art
Frequently Asked Questions
Who designed International Library of Children's Literature?+
International Library of Children's Literature was designed by Tadao Ando and completed in 2000. It is located in Ueno-kōen, Japan.
Where is International Library of Children's Literature located?+
International Library of Children's Literature is located in Ueno-kōen, Japan. Its coordinates are 35.7196°, 139.7737°.
When was International Library of Children's Literature built?+
International Library of Children's Literature was completed in 2000. It was designed by Tadao Ando.
Can I visit International Library of Children's Literature?+
International Library of Children's Literature is a real building in Ueno-kōen that can be viewed from the outside. Check local information for interior access and visiting hours. Use the Parametric Atlas walking tour feature to plan a route that includes this building.