Shenzhen Book City: A Breathing Architecture by ATELIER GLOBAL LTD.

Reviving Shenzhen's Cultural Space with Innovative Design and Interactivity

The design inspiration for the Shenzhen Book City came from the desire to rejuvenate the district by creating an interlocking system of cultural spaces. The architecture of the building is designed to be dynamic and responsive, located at the heart of the Long Hua district, amidst an art centre, public park, and urban villages. The facade is composed of vertical shading devices that filter sunlight at different angles, reminiscent of the dynamic condition of flipping a book. The interior design creates vertical dialogues among different programs, enhancing the overall living quality.

What sets the Shenzhen Book City apart from other designs is its unique spatial arrangement. It provides a brand new interactive environment open to the public, where different cultural activities can take place at different corners of the building without the restriction of time and space. The design team, consisting of Frankie Lui, Justin Law, Jeffrey He, Yiquan Liu, and Zhiqiang Huang, has successfully created an identity for the building that promotes connectivity not only inside the building but also with the city.

The design of the Shenzhen Book City promotes interaction with the city. The perimeter of the building embraces people and nature from different corners of the city. The idea of a cultural street along the site perimeter grows into the building and escalates vertically through terraces and atrium. This vertical form of cultural space brings an unprecedented reading experience to the visitors.

The project faced several design challenges, particularly in integrating a substantial amount of greenery from the existing site into the interiors. Large and green terraces at different perimeters of the building form dialogues with the openings on the facade, giving visitors an opportunity to experience the sense of nature even inside the building. The design process took a year, with the target completion and opening year being 2020.

The Shenzhen Book City by ATELIER GLOBAL LTD. is a testament to innovative design and architectural excellence. It was awarded Silver in A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award in 2018, a recognition given to top-of-the-line, creative, and professionally remarkable designs that illustrate outstanding expertise and innovation. The design is admired for its strong technical characteristics and splendid artistic skill, showcasing a remarkable level of excellence and introducing positive feelings, amazement, and wonder.