New Zealand Commercial Design Trends Series NZ Commercial Design Trends Vol. 34/01C | Page 49

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Eye-catching – an eyeball-shaped
auditorium within Tianjin Binhai
Library is framed by an eye-
shaped aperture in the double
facade’s external wood louvres.
With the rise and ensuing saturation of the
internet age, the need for libraries as conduits of
information has seemed under threat. As it turns
out, quite the opposite applies if this sculptural
book depository in China is anything to go by.
Tianjin Binhai Library – designed by Danish
architecture firm MVRDV in association with local
architects Tianjin Urban Planning and Design
Institute – is a 33,700m 2 library and cultural centre
that certainly doesn’t lack public presence.
The library has a luminous globe auditorium,
resembling an eyeball, as a centrepiece of the
open, three-level search hall at the heart of the five
floor building. A round aperture in the floorplates
above spills natural light directly onto the sphere.
And the giant central atrium is a spectacular sight
in its own right – walled in dramatic floor-to-ceiling
cascading bookcases. The angles and curves of the
space are meant to stimulate different uses of the
space, such as walking, meeting, discussing and
of course reading. The capacious library has the
capacity to hold a staggering 1.2 million books.
The terraced bookshelves create an interior,
topographical, landscape with contour lines, or
shelves, that also reach out and wrap around the
façade, says Winy Maas, co-founder of MVRDV.
“In this way, the stepped bookshelves inside are
represented on the outside – with each shelf
corresponding to an external louvre. The louvres
filter excessive sunlight, while still creating a bright
and evenly lit interior.”
As eye-catching from the outside as the inside,
an oval opening punches through the side of the
building, ‘visually propped open’ by the eyeball
auditorium seen in the interior behind.
The building itself sits within a sheltered gallery,
topped with cathedral-like vaulted end arches.
As well as a mecca for anyone who loves books
and reading, the building also contains extensive
educational facilities, arrayed along the edges of the
interior and accessed via the atrium.
The ground and first floors consist primarily of
reading rooms, books and lounge areas whilst the
upper floors also include meeting rooms, offices,
computer and audio rooms, and two rooftop patios.
And underpinning the library’s public program, there
are underground service spaces, extensive book
storage facilities, and a large archive.
“Tianjin Library is part of German architects
GMP’s 120,000m 2 masterplan, which aims to
accentuate the characteristics of the surround-
ing districts,” says Maas. “Through its design, the
cultural complex is a symbolic junction point for the
CBD, the old sector of the city, residential districts,
commercial areas and the government quarter.”
The futuristic library is surrounded by four other
cultural buildings. These were designed by an
international team of architects, including Bernard
Tschumi Architects and Bing Thom Architects. All
five buildings are connected by a public walkway
underneath a glass canopy designed by GMP.
Working with the GMP masterplan, MVRDV was
given a strict volume within which all the library’s
design elements were concentrated.
The library is MVRDV’s most fast track project
to date. It took just three years from first sketch to
public opening. Due to the set completion date, site
excavation immediately followed the design phase.
The construction method was eye-opening in its
own right – included the raising of the central upper
floors en masse supported by the end
sections. This made for quite a sight as the bulk of
the library literally inched skyward.
However, the tight construction schedule
meant one essential part of the concept had to be
dropped: access to the upper bookshelves from
rooms placed behind the atrium. This required
change – made locally and against MVRDV’s advice
– rendered access to the upper shelves in the atrium
space impossible.
The full vision for the library may still be realised
in the future. However, until then, perforated alu-
minium plates printed to represent books feature on
the upper shelves. Cleaning is done via ropes and
movable scaffolding.
Tianjin Binhai Library was built according to the
Chinese Green Star energy efficiency rating and has
achieved a silver status.
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