For many, solace and inner peace can only be found within coffee shops over a cup of coffee, city parks watching people doing their day-to-day routines, or within their homes and playing music through their speakers at full volume. Drowning their thoughts and burdens with some form of white noise.
For those who crave for a sound of silence, libraries are also a great place to be one with your own thoughts and for self-reflection. Coupled with great atmosphere, the smell of wood and paper, and plenty of material to get lost in, one never has a negative thought running through their minds when reading a book.
As part of their new community project, Zhonghai Real Estate has reached out to the Chinese-based Guangzhou Du Wenbiao Decoration Design interior design firm to turn the common dark and warm aesthetic of many libraries today and turn it into a design that transforms the fantasies read in books into a reality with this future city library!
At the entrance of the library, visitors who walk through the arches of the main doorway will enter into a domain of maroon bricks. When they look up to see the sky, they will also see a series of books hung on wires from the ceiling above. Upon entering the next area, they immediately transition from the warm scarlet exterior into the comforting ivory interior of the library.
Taking a minimalist approach, a rarity in libraries, there is an abundance of open space that takes advantage of the primary color of white to evoke a feeling of spaciousness. Furniture choice is also carefully selected to match the aesthetics and take the internal dimensions of the library into account and flanked by rows and rows of bookshelves containing books of all genres fiction and non-fiction. Light fixtures designs are also shaped as paper planes with LED strips cleverly mounted at the creases to give them a playful vibe.
The chamber of the library is a tall room that houses more books of fiction and non-fiction genres. However, it also houses a private public chamber shaped as a sheet of rolled paper where visitors can sit down and continue reading their material of choice. A lamp hangs within the complex structure and has letters carved in the housing where once turned on will shine the display the letters with clarity and sharpness.
With many libraries of old still persevering even after centuries and still in use as a favorite hangout for many, this future city library is a shining example of turning a centuries-old facility into something modern and cutting edge!
Credits
Name: Zhonghai Jindi · Future City Library
Company: Guangzhou Du Wenbiao Decoration Co., Ltd.
Client: Zhonghai Real Estate
Interior design is all about bending the fabric of your reality into your own vision. Read our feature article on the people portraying their own realities here!