idesignpublicspaces [n.6]

The Tianjin Binhai Library in Tianjin, China, was designed by the Dutch architectural firm MVRDV to look like a giant eye. “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.”

The futuristic library sits within a sheltered gallery, topped with cathedral-like vaulted arches, which winds its way throughout the scheme. It is located on the coast of the Bohai Sea east of Tianjin’s main urban area, is a sub-provincial district and state-level new area within the jurisdiction of Tianjin Municipality and is part of the important Bohai Economic Rim.