Montreuil, France based architects archi5 have created a modern library, la Mediatheque Mont de Marsan, for the Marsan urban community in southwestern France. A large square with a transparent facade and a planted roof, the Mediatheque features a unique open patio at its centre, “the volumes of which recall Alvar Aalto’s vases” – the first patio used by a Media Library as an open reading room.