Since 1983 the work of the well-known architect Henri Labrouste, the Salle Labrouste, has been protected as "historical monument". The reading room located in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France show a beautiful space with nine domes adorned with ceramic tiles that diffuse the light evenly. To support the vaults, iron arches resting on sixteen cast iron columns are running down the centre. This combination of contrasting tones, colours and materials allow to give the intellectual spirits and stimulating atmoshpere to the reading room. One of the very special characteristics of this space is the presence of medallions of artists, including a single female medallion illustrating the writer Madame de Sévigné.

Thibaud Poirier loves libraries and architecture. So he travelled to some of the world’s most beautiful book-lined spaces and photographed them from the centre of the room, to “highlight the symmetry and perspective of the locations” and offer the viewer “a feeling of immersion”. This feeling is emphasised by the lack of human presence in the rooms, “in order to paint surreal and timeless portraits of these monuments.”