MVRDV's Tianjin Binhai Library: Visiting the 'Most beautiful library of China'

Would you ever travel to visit one place in particular? Imagine all the efforts, time, expenses just to visit one single place? I would! Not to chase an Instagram post but more to appreciate the architecture. Photography has taught me to appreciate the little details in life and I would definitely travel to Tianjin, China to visit the 'most beautiful library of China'. Designed by MVRDV and TUPDI that stands for Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute. Built-in 2017, imagine a 33,700m2 cultural centre featuring a luminous spherical auditorium and floor-to-ceiling cascading bookcases functions not only as an education centre but as a social space and connector from the park into the cultural district.

In their words

The Eye is the center of the library. It ‘hollows out’ the building and creates, out of bookshelves, an environment to sit, to read, to hang out, to climb and to access, to create an organic social space,” explains MVRDV co-founder Winy Maas. “In its heart is the auditorium which mirrors the environment, giving a 360-degree panorama of the space inside; a truly reflective and pensive environment.

More Links

• MVRDV Site
• More on TUPDI

Architecture

All images (c) Ossip van Duivenbode

The project is MVRDV’s second completed design in Tianjin. TEDA Urban Fabric, completed in 2009, provided 280,000m2 of mixed high and low-rise housing and retail.

Credits

• Architect: MVRDV
• Partner: Wenchian Shi
• Design Team: Maria López Calleja, Kyo Suk Lee, Sen Yang, Marta PozoChi Li, Ray Zhu, Angel Sanchez Navarro, Daehee Suk, Guang Ruey Tan, Xichen Sun, Michael Zhang, Mariya Gyaurova, Winy Maas, Antonio Luca Coco, Constanza Cuccato, Matteo Artico, Tomaso Maschietti
• Concept Design: Renske van der Stoep, Martine Vledder, Kyo Suk Lee, Gerard Heerink, Chi Li, Francisco Pomares, Nicolas Lee, Claudia Bode, Sharon Ship, Jaap Baselmans, Herman Gaarman, Hui Hsin Liao, Antonio Luca Coco, Constanza Cuccato, Matteo Artico, Tomaso Maschietti
• Copyright MVRDV: Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries
• Co-Architect: Tanjin Urban Planning and Design Institute (TUPDI), Tianjin, China
• Lighting designer: Huayi Jianyuan lighting design
• Images: Ossip van Duivenbode