snøhetta plans mechanical, rotating book pavilion for 2018 london design festival

snøhetta has drawn up plans for a book pavilion, which will be erected as part of the 2018 london design festival. inspired by the traditional principles of a library, the mechanical, rotating pavilion of oversized books will flip to create a variety of spaces, ranging from quiet and reflective to extrovert and public, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in a world of literature.

commissioned by british land, the project is located in kingdom street and marks paddington central’s first year as a ‘design route’ at the london design festival. ‘the idea of the book pavilion was to enable people to fully immerse themselves into a book, and live the story, just as a child does when they hear a bed time story,’ snøhetta explains. ‘the giant life size pages bring the pavilion to life, and allows the community to have a space where they can also tell stories.’

each book will have an insert that encourages readers to pass on the publication, or return it so that someone else can immerse themselves into the joy of reading. it is intended that visitors will be able to track the book’s journey. the pavilion will be revealed on september 13, 2018, and will be a permanent installation. see elements of the project being assembled below.