The long-awaited Shanghai Library East designed by Danish studio Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects has opened to the public in China.
The 115,000-square-metre Shanghai Library East, located in the Pudong district of Shanghai, is the biggest library in the country.
Schmidt Hammer Lassen designed its monumental shape in reference to a unique type of stone from the region, called Taihu stone, which has perforated surfaces and eroded hollows.
Shanghai Library East was designed to look like a stone
The stone is known as "scholars' rocks" and was widely used in Chinese gardens for centuries. It also features in ancient Chinese literature, which often referenced its shape-shifting look.
"This library was a unique opportunity to reinterpret a cherished Chinese symbol through architecture and design," said project architect Jing Lin. "In ancient times, scholars would gather around Taihu stones, deriving inspiration from their edges, curvatures, canyons, and tunnels, which seemed to shift when viewed from different vantage points," she added.
"Similarly, as visitors move about Shanghai Library East, their views of its interconnecting spaces shapeshift."
Shanghai Library East is the largest library in China
SHL also designed the exterior of the seven-storey library to reference literature. Fifteen photographs of marble swirls were "printed" onto the facade's glass panels in homage to China's long history of printed literature.
The print...