located in the yintai center of chengdu, this bookstore designed by x+living embodies the cultural charm of this populous city in western chinathe streets of chengdu have become a unique landscape, with its cultural atmosphere and remarkable leisure, running through every person’s life, and properly showing its elegance. 

x+living shapes bookstore after chengdu's cultural charm
bookstore main entrance
all images © shao feng

 

 

as soon as visitors walk out of the escalator on the fourth floor of the yintai center, they’ll immediately encounter the familiar zhongshuge label on the text curtain wall at the entrance of the bookstore, in order to integrate it better with the charming city of chengdu. when entering the bookstore, shanghai based x+living has designed a vibrant space full of ‘bamboo shaped book shelves’ and small tables which look like ‘bamboo shoots’ to recreate the cultural atmosphere of the region.

x+living shapes bookstore after chengdu's cultural charm
children area

 

 

walking through the ‘bamboo forest of book shelves’ to the right, is the children area, a jungle-paradise-like world. the walls are covered with book shelves in the form of a bamboo forest, classical houses, windmills, and playful pandas. ‘big mushrooms’ are scattered throughout this part of the bookstore for children to read books under them. certainly, mirror ceiling, as another symbol of zhongshuge, is also applied to this area.

x+living shapes bookstore after chengdu's cultural charm
children read books under these ‘big mushrooms’

x+living shapes bookstore after chengdu's cultural charm
‘bamboo and panda shaped book shelves’ in the children area

x+living shapes bookstore after chengdu's cultural charm
bamboo forest reading area

 

 

the vaguely visible red brick wall on the left side of the ‘bamboo forest’ is the most distinctive place in this zhongshuge. in this five-meters-high space, the red brick wall piles up to the top and encircle independent small zones. a walking path above goes around the walls to allow readers to find their favorite book in the tall shelves across this part of the bookstore.

x+living shapes bookstore after chengdu's cultural charm
leisure reading area

x+living shapes bookstore after chengdu's cultural charm
walking path above that goes around the red brick walls

x+living shapes bookstore after chengdu's cultural charm
distinctive area in the bookstore with independent small zones and five meters high

x+living shapes bookstore after chengdu's cultural charm
‘book stairs’

 

 

at the end of the small zones, taking the book stairs, we come to the lecture hall. the arbitrary lines form scattered ladders with different heights for walking or sitting. in the reflection of the mirror ceiling, they are ‘terraced fields’. here, the visitors can listen to a spiritual lecture or a thoughtful drama.

x+living shapes bookstore after chengdu's cultural charm
reflection of the ‘terraced fields’ in the mirror ceiling of the lecture hall

x+living shapes bookstore after chengdu's cultural charm
scattered stairs with different heights for walking and sitting

 

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: apostolos costarangos | designboom