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"The reading room seats 2000 persons and is flexible in its accommodation of current and future technologies.

"The room surges upward with a kind of seismic energy while still maintaining an intimacy familiar in Arabic space. The curving wall of the interior creates a secure space for meditation. The surrounding walls move upward and around to further enhance this character.

"Pushing up through the interior space are slender columns capped with prism shapes that further distribute light from the overhead skylights. The skylights rise from beneath the earth in a simple repetitive pattern of tetrahedrons.

"They face north and are designed not to allow direct sunlight into the main space. The light through these pyramids changes throughout the day to provide a connection to the changing environment."

— Victor A. Khoueiry, ArchitectureWeek No. 67