Open the gate in the text curtain wall and you enter a “World of Karst cave” – cultural and creative corridor, where rows of “stalactites” down the ground against the black glass of the ground seem like infinitely extended waiting for us to explore. On the book stand of “Ship type”, chandeliers are shelved going along the “Water flow” on the ground, which introduces us through the treasures of knowledge.
Go through the World of Karst cave, and we come to the boutique reading area, with the layout style of squared study, where each small study room is a classic treasury of books. Here you can enjoy yourself in the sea of the wisdom of ancient scholars, and your soul is sublimated. In each squared shelf, there are desks and chairs for rest. Take a cup of tea to enjoy the quiet reading time. If you are tired, go to the children’s library next door to experience the fairy-tale world. The walls are inlaid with patterns with the most featured minority custom of Guizhou, matched with various colors. When children are reading, they can be nurtured with ethnic cultures surrounding them. Share the fairy tales you read with children.
The other end of the cultural and creative corridor is adjacent to the cultural and creative area, which takes the conception of karst landform. The magnificent “Mountain-shaped bookshelves” are intertwined and wind along the path. Against the ceiling mirror, the “Mountains” stand more upright. In the reflection of water-like black glass on the ground, landscape paintings come into view. In the landscape paintings, you come to the lecture hall, evolved from the terraced fields. There is nothing better than listening to a lecture or a book sharing session here. When you harvest your experience, don’t forget to share your happiness with friends.
After a lecture, you can have a rest in the leisure area, slowly digesting and absorbing your harvest of the day. The seats between shelves, sets of comfortable tables and chairs make your body relax. When you look up, the ceiling seems filled with bookshelves, giving you a sense of safety surrounded by books. Along the leisure area, you come out to the quiet and white reading room, where the bookshelves in the walls are arranged in rows. They become narrower from ground to top, and then reflected by the glass surface on the ceiling, forming a shape of stalactite grotto.
The rows of bookshelves are slightly rotated, and they look different in both front and back.
That is just like the vision that Zhongshuge has always upheld: to create the most beautiful reading experience space for readers, where they harvest not only wisdom from books, but also the perception and sedimentation of life.
Location：Guizhou
Completion time：2018.10
Project area：3400㎡
Chief designer：Li Xiang
Project directors：Liu Huan
Architect Studio: http://www.xl-muse.com
