Would you find this bookstore beautiful or terrifying? Or both.
Well, beautiful might not exactly be the word—perhaps disquietingly arresting? Chinese architecture firm x+living seems to be channeling the synaptic afterimages of Borges’s brain in their dizzying design for a bookstore in the city of Dujiangyan, in the southwest of China. The almost manic use of mirrors is also a nod to M.C. Escher and is probably not for the faint of heart—this would not be the kind of bookstore for cozy browsing and slightly dry scones by the till.
According to Designboom,
the designers aimed to create a whole indoor scenery, introducing the magnificent spirit of mountains and rivers into the interior, and presenting readers with elegant and powerful artistic landscape that expresses awe to nature.
Ok sure, there are apparently pandas in the children’s section, but these designs seem way more Star Fleet 2386 than like any kind of homage to the natural world. But scroll on below to see the future cyborg booksellers want.
All images by Shao Feng.
