Tianjin Zhongshuge
Credits
Company / Customer
Shanghai Zhongshu Industrial Co., Ltd.
Designer
Li Xiang
Year
2025
Location
Tianjin, China
Disciplines
Architecture
Category
Retail and Commercial
Award
Best of Best
Details
Located in a historic Italian-style district, the project uses red bricks to blend with classical surroundings, simultaneously adopting an architectural logic inspired by blinds. With 400,000 customised bricks stacked in a minimalist style, the architecture looks sliced and reassembled. Structural logic extends from exterior to interior, with gaps in brickwork forming shelves, steps and seating. Dark-blue steel waves evoke Tianjin’s port, fusing Italian heritage with modern craftsmanship and local culture.
The Jury‘s Statement
The Tianjin Zhongshuge bookstore, designed by X+Living in the metropolis of Tianjin, south-east of Beijing, could be seen as a cathedral for books. Through a three-storey glass portal, the free-standing brick building draws customers into a long central nave, which can be climbed via steps and ends in a breathtaking spiral staircase made of red brick. A dark-blue structure, which echoes the lamella-like layering of the façade on the inside, allows a glimpse between the floors. Like the walls, all the shelves are also brick-built. The designers have thus created a fascinating overall impression that appears harmonious from the outside to the inside.
