In 1957, the pioneering architect Pierre Patout was commissioned to rebuild the public library of the city of Tours on the banks of the river Loire, after its original building had been burnt down by the Germans in 1940. Together with fellow architects Charles and Jean Dorian, he designed the exterior as well as furnishings for the interior spaces, including the present double-sided bookcase which was used as room divider and shelving unit for books. Patout was one of the major figures of the Art Deco movement and a key proponent of Streamline Moderne design. His works include the design of the main entrance and the Pavillion d'un Collecteur at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris in 1925, and the interiors of the ocean liner Normandie and other French transatlantic liners in the 1930s.
