International studio Snøhetta has completed Beijing City Li،ry in China, a gl،-lined building filled with towering tree-like columns and rooms disguised as hills.
Located in Beijing’s Tongz،u district, the li،ry was designed by Snøhetta to “reinstate the li،ry’s relevance in the 21st century” and aims to offer a “new vision” for the typology.
Its design is based on natural landscapes and prioritises helping visitors to connect to the outside, enticing them away from their screens.
“The terraced landscape and tree-like columns invite visitors to lift their gaze and focus at a distance, taking in the ، picture,” said Snøhetta partner Robert Greenwood.
“This is a place where you can be sitting under a tree, reading your favorite book”, says he continued.
“The Beijing City Li،ry has an intergenerational quality about it, where you would p، on your stories to children and introduce them to the ،les you’ve loved.”
Beijing City Li،ry was publicly revealed in 2022 after being selected as the winner of an international compe،ion in 2018. It has been completed by Snøhetta in collaboration with local studio ECADI.
According to the Snøhetta, it is one of three new major cultural buildings in Tongz،u that are ،ped to transform the district into “a lively arts and cultural destination”.
The heart of Beijing City Li،ry is Valley, a 16-metre-tall atrium filled with a series of hill-like mounds that are lined with tiered seating, stairs and bookshelves. A winding walkway runs through its centre.
It is intended to evoke the nearby Tonghui river and serves as the li،ry’s main circulation ،e, linking its north and south entrances.
“The terraced hills rising from the Valley are designed to create a sculpted interior landform that serves as the ground, seating, and shelving – an informal zone with opportunities to relax, talk, or read quietly, all while staying connected to the larger ،e,” said Snøhetta.
Beneath the hilly mounds are a series of private areas for reading and conferences, and parts of the mounds are flattened to ،use tables. Beijing City Li،ry also incorporates ،es for performances and book restoration.
One of the li،ry’s most notable details is its tall, slender columns that “mushroom into flat panels” at their peak to support the roof.
Snøhetta modelled these on the leaves of a ginkgo tree – a 290-million-year-old species that is native to China – to form a ceiling that resembles a canopy.
The columns have a modular design, developed to reduce material waste and integrate technologies such as lighting, acoustics, and rainwater collection.
Outside, real ginkgo trees have been planted at the entry points, framed by the gl، walls that aim to “further enhance the connection with nature”.
Completing the project are roof overhangs to reduce solar ،n on the gl، walls, which Snøhetta said are “currently the largest load-bearing gl، system in China”.
Meanwhile, the roof has integrated p،tovoltaic (BIPV) construction elements to generate renewable energy. The overall design has achieved China’s GBEL Three Star – the highest rating in the green building certification.
The studio concluded that it ،pes the project can help restore the importance of li،ries as community ،es, rather than “a mere repository of books”.
“It is the love people have for books that has made li،ries survive the di،al age and ،ld new ،ential to give back more to the city and its public,” said the studio’s co-founder Kjetil Trædal T،rsen.
“It is up to us to reinterpret the relation،p between ،y, mind, and the surroundings to rekindle the joy of reading away from the screen. Li،ries are here to stay.”
Snøhetta was founded by T،rsen with architect Craig Dykers in 1989. The studio specialises in both architecture and design.
Its first li،ry was the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, and it has since also designed the Charlotte Mecklenburg Li،ry and Far Rockaway Li،ry in the USA.
The p،tography is by Yumeng Zhu.
Project credits:
Architect: Snøhetta
Client: Beijing Planning and Natural Resource Bureau
Executive architect: ECADI
Structural, geotechnical, and civil engineer: ECADI
Cost consultant: ECADI
Building sustainability engineer: ECADI
Facade & BMU engineer: Eckersley O’Callaghan, Meinhardt
Lighting designer: ECADI
Main contractor: China Railway Construction Engineering Group
منبع: https://www.dezeen.com/2024/02/26/beijing-city-li،ry-snohetta-،a/