Describe both the modern and classical elements of Labrouste’s Bibliothèque Nationale. Use architectural vocabulary.
The Bibliotheque Nationale features columns, vaulted ceilings, domes, and arcuated windows, all features from antiquity. While columns were typically made of stone, these columns are iron, allowing them to be significantly thinner and more delicate. As a house of wisdom, they carry ionic capitals, in line with Ancient Greece. The vaulted ceilings are also no longer stone but reinforced plaster. The domes feature individual oculi letting light into the room. The windows are arcuated, in line with roman arches, but are larger and more delicate than windows up to this point. The building is decorated with iron openwork throughout the whole space.