James Marsh was supposed to direct a segment about the St. Pancras Railway Station in London, but had to leave the project because of schedule conflicts with The Theory of Everything (2014).
Wim Wenders chose the Berlin Philharmonic as the subject of his segment after deciding between the concert hall and the Berlin State Library, both of which were designed by Hans Scharoun. The library was featured heavily in his Wings of Desire (1987).
Candidates for Michael Glawogger's subject included the Vatican Library and the Bodleian Library of Oxford University before he eventually took the National Library of Russia in St Petersburg, where the books were more accessible than in the others.