Designed by Li Xiang of Shanghai-based X+Living studios, Zhongshuge is a new bookstore in China, which opened this autumn and is renowned for its imaginative interior. Zhongshuge’s central feature is its huge spiral staircase, which serves as both a bookshelf and a huge artistic installation.
Located in Qianhai OCT, Shenzhen, the bookstore is functionally divided into a concept area, a forum area, a children’s reading area and a conference area.
According to a statement from the studio, the stair bookshelf runs “in a curving path through the entire concept area” and connects to the entrance and exit, with bookworms able to roam the reels, picking up novels along the way.
“The designers have taken the symbolism of the ladder of wisdom and integrated the elegant and dignified bookshelves in the forum area into a towering ladder, creating a sacred temple of knowledge,” the statement explains, adding that the structure is intended to an ‘intimate reading experience’.
Zhongshuge bookstores are a chain of bookshops across China, founded by book publisher Jin Hao. Since 2010, X+Living studios has designed over 20 of the chain’s premises. Each store has its own character, while remaining steeped in the brand’s quirkiness and whimsy.
Shenzhen Zhongshuge is its latest offering, and the result is a architectural space that truly captures the imagination.
Li Xiang founded Weixiang International and the X+Living studio after 10 years of overseas studies and obtaining a dual architecture degree in the UK. The studio has received worldwide recognition and many awards for its ability to eliminate the distance between art and life. X+Living takes “design creates value” as the core concept and insists on achieving the highest quality of design works from conceptual design to final completion. The firm truly creates spaces with spectacular, awe-inspiring interiors.
Project info
Name: Shenzhen Zhongshuge
Designer: X+Living
Creative designer: Li Xiang
Location: Qianhai, Shenzhen, China
Area: 1300 sqm
