Books have the power to take you to another world without you even leaving your chair. Why then should a bookstore not be the most magical place you visit? Instead of simply stacking them in mundane racks, the newly opened Zhongshuge bookshop in the city of Shenzhen, China, shows us exactly how wacky and otherworldly a bookstore must be! Located in Qianhai Oct, Shenzhen, China, this surreal bookstore is designed by X+living. The studio has created the shop, and the eye-catching bookshelf doubles as ‘a monumental artistic installation’. Let’s dive straight into the pictures that unveil the wondrous world of books and a store that’s even more startling than the stories it holds:
There may be many bestsellers stocked inside the spiral rack, but the spiral itself is the store’s highlight. The curved trajectory runs through the entire area, connecting the entrance and exit.
The bookstore is dubbed a sacred temple of knowledge and features a concept area, a forum, a children’s reading, and a conference area. While the rest of the store is unabashedly enigmatic, the children’s room is whimsical. It incorporates a Ferris wheel and a castle into the bookshelves. It looks like an amusement park of books, complete with pastel colors, cartoonish shapes, and exciting furniture.
The interiors are thoughtfully done, and like the books, teleport you to a different place no matter where you stand. The flooring covered by reflective black tiles gives the installation the feeling of a peaceful lake. The warm and bright orange and blue hues fill the space with dreamy colors. Even the tables have legs that blend in with the black-tiled surface to create an illusion of levitation.
Design Boom shared li Xiang, the studio’s creative designer statement, “When I received the design assignment for Zhongshuge in Shenzhen last year, I had led the designs for several completed Zhongshuge across china. In the process of researching the cultural background of this city, I realized that I could design a space which could become a symbol of Shenzhen itself as an inclusive and vibrant city of migrants, paying tribute to all those who have struggled to make history in this city.
Thus, this retail space, which seems to have grown out of a giant art installation, was born. Straddling the earth and sky, it is examined as an otherworldly presence that creates a subtle experience of unease mixed with familiarity, making the space a proposition posing silent questions to the viewers.”
[Via: New Atlas]
