Pingtan Book House, Huaihua Hunan Province, Chinese Commercial Interior Architecture Images
Pingtan Book House in Hunan Province
30 Nov 2022
Architects: Condition_Lab
Location: Huaihua, Hunan Province, China

Photos by Zhao Sai
Pingtan Book House, China
Pingtan Book House – A Traditional Timber House Squeezed with an Infinite Loop of Risers and Treads

Imagine a staircase that never ends, as an infinite loop of risers and treads squeezed into a traditional timber house. Adding to the mystery, the staircase has no destination, but rather is a destination itself. The walls of the house have been transformed into a matrix of bookshelves and windows overlooking a courtyard. However, this is no ordinary children?s library. The Pingtan Book House is a place where kids can read and play at the same time, and a new village library paradigm in China.
For years, Dong Minority villages have been confronted with the ever-present reality of the decline of their beautiful architectural heritage, eradicated by the arrival of a foreign material – concrete. Entire villages, built over centuries from a single sustainable material – indigenous China Fir – are rapidly losing their identity. Dong?s cultural DNA is being challenged by contemporary living and the quest to modernize. As a school built entirely of concrete 20 years ago on the edge of the village, the Pingtan primary school is a prime example of this condition. The complex, which accommodates more than 300 c...