Seattle Public Library Seattle Public Library is the fifth-ranked library in the world, designed by Dutch architect Rem Kujas. The Seattle Public Library was not only selected as Time magazine's Best Architecture Award in 2004, but also won the 2005 American Institute of Architects Outstanding Architectural Design Award (AIAHonor Awards) and was highly praised by New Yorker magazine as "the most important new library built in this era." The folding-shaped building is designed to echo the landscape of Seattle’s misplaced mountains and twisting rivers. The 11-story tall volume combines traditional books with a contemporary online library, and is a public living room in the city without reservation.