Shiraz Poetry Library
A library and recital hall near the tomb of Hafez that places reading beside garden, water and the shade of cypresses.
Shiraz is known for its gardens and its poets. This library was built to house a collection of printed and manuscript divans of Persian poets and to host evenings of recitation.
A garden for reading
The building sits in two low wings either side of a long water channel, in the manner of the Persian chahar bagh. Reading rooms have tall windows onto the garden, and north light falls from above the shelves. The manuscript store sits below ground with precise temperature and humidity control.
The two-hundred-seat recital hall, its ceiling formed of walnut panels tuned for acoustics, opens onto the courtyard so that spring readings can spill outdoors.
Walls are built in Shiraz’s cream limestone and brick, and verses of Hafez, carved with local calligraphers, run along the timber entrance frames.
