Building Knowledge

For many, libraries represent a pinnacle of human achievement. A collective centre of vast, awesome knowledge and experiences, gathered from around the world in a single building. A place for learning or to satisfy your craving for new and exciting stories.

I’m sure I would love libraries even more if I knew how to read (I really should learn, it’s making writing for a living quite difficult). Still, even illiterate goofs like myself can admire Nasher Grove City Library, a marvelous cathedral-like structure that could probably house every book in the world within its humongous halls.

“I wanted to create a building with that ‘wow’ factor in mind, when you enter the inside to explore it for the first time.” says DestrucitveBurn, a Canadian builder and the grand architect behind the Nasher Grove City Library. “To do that I needed to build something epic and unexpected. Level of detail is what brings [that] wow factor.“

DestrucitveBurn’s build was born from an idea he liked in the game Assassin’s Creed Unity. Specifically, a cathedral with downspouts that could trap and send water off the roof caught his attention. But he also decided to use a rather unconventional material for exterior walls – dirt blocks!

“The main reason why I chose dirt is because other builders think it’s a block that should never be used for building [since] it's ugly. This is one of the reasons why you don't see many builds using that material. I wanted to prove that even an ugly block can look epic if it was used right.“

Well I don’t know about you folks, but I always use dirt blocks in my builds!

This library has an astounding level of detail rarely seen in projects of similar scale (just imagine how much time it takes). And while the exterior of well-placed dirt blocks might make you gasp, the interior also has eyesores like intricate wall decorations and varied floor patterns – with not a single block out of place.

The grand atmosphere and rich golden colour scheme almost makes it look like a casino, except here you gain all your knowledge instead of losing all your money – hooray!

DestructiveBurn believes having patterns is more eye-appealing than looking at plain colors. “ [It] makes structures look old and brings in that detail that all builds should have. Decorating with patterns has been in our history for generations. Minecraft is no exception.”

Walking through the entire building feels like a walk through history, reminding me of other great libraries, such as the giant Library of Congress which holds more than 32 million books within its walls (have you read them all yet?). Nasher Grove City Library might not have that many books, but it makes up for it in size. The whole building is 469 blocks wide, 779 blocks long, and 188 blocks in height.

“You can explore all levels of the building, including outside.” DestrucitveBurn explains. “The long bookshelves can be climbed. Perfect for the option of wanting to add real books to the library if a player decides to do that.“ Not a bookworm? You can admire other features - like the animal structures dotted around the library to “give you that Egyptian look and feel.”

However, the most impressive structure in the entire building is what you’ll find in its centre, directly below a giant glass dome – a massive globe of the world!

“Most libraries on our planet are a place of knowledge. This knowledge is something that can come from all around the world. As the Library is a massive center filled with all sorts of books, the globe is a symbol of that idea.”

Just like his library, DestructiveBurn seems to love spreading knowledge. He’s made a YouTube video for Nasher Grove City Library with more info about his build and encouraging messages for other builders. Messages like ”Creativity can go a long way – never give up” and ”If you put your mind to something, you can achieve anything”.

“Minecraft is an all ages game. A lot of the players that do play are the younger types. Giving positive messages may inspire them to keep building and improving their builds to become great one day [and] we all started somewhere.”

Who knows? One day, even I might be able to improve, reading books in my beautiful dirt house! Or maybe I’ll just look at the pictures.