x+living shapes bookstore after chengdu's cultural charm

located in the yintai center of chengdu, this bookstore designed by x+living embodies the cultural charm of this populous city in western china. the 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. 

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.

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.

children read books under these ‘big mushrooms’

‘bamboo and panda shaped book shelves’ in the children area

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.

leisure reading area

walking path above that goes around the red brick walls

distinctive area in the bookstore with independent small zones and five meters high

‘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.

reflection of the ‘terraced fields’ in the mirror ceiling of the lecture hall

scattered stairs with different heights for walking and sitting

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edited by: apostolos costarangos | designboom