Binhai Eye Public Library, Tianjin (China).

over 3 years ago

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A very unusual building, futuristic.
It is also called the Library of the Future. It contains over 1 million books.

Binhai Eye Public Library, Tianjin

Nowadays, when the enthusiasm for books is significantly declining, it is gratifying that there are similar libraries somewhere.
If someone told me three years ago that I practically would not read books, I would simply laugh.
I started reading books at the age of 5, I reread absolutely everything that was in the past in the huge library of my uncle, dad's brother.
I took books from him according to the list, and after a while I returned them according to the list.
Those were the days when the book "The Count of Monte Cristo" could be bought in a shabby state on the market, because they simply were not available for sale.
It was only later, in the early 90s, that a boom in the production of books began, trays with the sale of books appeared, beautiful colored covers appeared, and it became possible to subscribe books in series by mail. And they came so beautiful, and were read, and put in bookcases.
Then there were a lot of books everywhere. And you could read everything.
But I continued to go to the central regional library of our city, where I took books that could not yet be bought, the same "The Human Comedy" by Honore Balzac, all the volumes of which I read, I took there.
And then came what is now. First, electronic reading devices, where the book became possible to read in electronic form. Then more and more audiobooks .... And now I have forgotten when I picked up the book version of books, and some books bought 3-4 years ago are still unread. Because now I only listen to audiobooks, watch YouTube and play games on an iPhone. :)))
The world has changed, and so have I.
It is all the more pleasant to see such libraries, where a huge number of books in paper form are collected.

So, the library in Tianjin, Tianjin Binhai Library (Ch. 天津滨海新区图书馆). Built in a very short time, in just three years, according to the project of the Dutch company MVRDV in cooperation with the Institute of Urban Planning and Design of Tianjin. It is located in the Binhai Cultural District and is called the "Eye" or "Eye of Binhai" because the building's main atrium is shaped like an eye with a huge luminous sphere in the center.
The huge sphere in the center of the library is an auditorium for 110 people, and if you look at the building from the outside, thanks to the glass wall, the interior will resemble an eye in shape, in which the sphere acts as a pupil, hence the name.
To understand the speed of construction, the library has five floors and a total area of 33,700 square meters. For 3 years.

Binhai Eye Public Library, Tianjin

There is only one "but" to which visitors have different attitudes.
Due to the decision to quickly complete the library and contradictions with what was officially approved, the main atrium cannot be used for storing books. The rooms providing access to the top tiers of shelving were not built, and the spines of books were printed on the back of the photo shelf on opening day.
And the main hall is, rather, a design hall for photo shoots, for excursions, and it's worth it. After the opening of the library, more than 10,000 people visited it daily.
On the first and second floors, there are mainly halls and reading rooms. The floors above have computer rooms, conference rooms and offices. There are also two rooftop patios.
Now, just photos of the library.