Nakanoshima Children's Book Forest

This guide to Nakanoshima Children's Book Forest in Osaka follows architect Tadao Ando, a former boxer and truck driver who taught himself design, and the public hall once funded by citizen donations on this same stretch of river that inspired him. It traces how he designed, helped fund and gave this library to the city as a gift, and the curved wall of some twenty thousand books shelved without regard for age or genre. Stand near the curve of shelving and look toward the bend of the Dojima River outside.