Pinghe Bibliotheater
Pinghe Bibliotheater is the core of OPEN?s latest project?School as Village/Shanghai Qingpu Pinghe International School. A library, a theater, and a black box interlock together like a Chinese puzzle to form this characteristic building that some call ?the blue whale? while others see it as an ocean liner. The unique form of the building and the free-flowing spaces not only cultivate the students? interests in reading and performing, but also encourage their imagination to roam freely in the ocean of knowledge.
Photography by © Jonathan Leijonhufvud
The Bibliotheater abuts an important corner of this school-village, at a junction near which a major city highway and an ancient canal also meet. The slanted roof with spiky skylights, ship portholes like round windows, and eye-catching blue color leave a strong impression on passersby. When we were given the extensive and jumbled-together program of a new school for 2000 students aged from 3 to 18 years, the immediate reaction was how dreadful it would be for a kid spending these many years fixed in one building. We decided to break away from the current trend of school-as-megastructure.
Photography by © Jonathan Leijonhufvud
Instead, the original program was deconstructed and grouped into many smaller and distinctive buildings, forming a village-like campus. The marriage of library and theater came from the architect?s belief that the act of extensive reading and thinking, and the act of expression throu...