Translucent rotating walls pivot to transform the interior of this bookshop in Bejing by Chinese architecture firm LUO Studio.
Located in the 479-square-metre basement space of a shopping mall in the Chinese capital, the Mumokuteki Concept Bookstore sells books as well as design objects, flowers, food and coffee.
A system of five rotating walls help to divide up the Mumokuteki Concept Bookstore (Top and above)
The shop occupies the mall's former equipment room, which featured a disorderly arrangement of walls, columns and dense pipelines.
LUO Studio was tasked with working around these existing architectural elements to create an adaptable retail space that could also host events and exhibitions.
A grid of holes is set into the walls
The studio, headed by architect Luo Yujie, recognised that installing a conventional suspended ceiling to conceal the pipework would have created a cramped, oppressive space. Instead, the team worked to restore the original ceilings, walls and columns with a view to making a feature out of their industrial textures.
Dowels can be slotted into the holes and topped with shelves to form flexible storage
"The white coating of walls and columns was removed and the irregular edges and corners were fully polished, thereby revealing the aggregate's textures in the concrete columns," recalled the studio.
"The original ceiling structures were retained and endowed with a grey tone, which is slightly darker than the walls and harmonises with...