National Library of Belarus

In 2006 when the new National Library of Belarus was constructed, nobody had ever heard of a rhombicuboctahedron. With 8 triangular faces and 18 square faces, the bizarre geometric shape was chosen for the new design of the library and has been turning heads since its construction.

Designed by architects Mihail Vinogradov and Viktor Kramarenko, the library's main section is 236 feet high and features 22 levels of collections along with large conference rooms that can seat 500 people. In total, the library has 8,600,000 items available in a variety of languages and types of media.

Although its size and shape are unique, when the building is illuminated it steps into a class of its own. Dominating the landscape for miles around, the glowing orb has almost become more of a tourist attraction than a functional library. This is probably aided by the newly designed park which houses the library, along with the library's observation deck that looks over Minsk.