Cultivating intelligence: Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal's new library.

More than just a book repository, the new library at École Polytechnique de Montréal can be better described as a hotbed of intellectual activity. The library was specifically designed to foster learning, encourage research, facilitate collaboration and stimulate new ideas through its combination of technology, information, science and culture. From spatial planning to equipment to furnishings, everything was designed around the idea of an “intellectual forum.” This article presents the process by which the idea became reality.