#PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE PROJECTS
00group envisions sculptural bookstore that engages visitors with nature
CATCH THE SOUND FROM THE OCEAN: A POETIC BOOKSTORE CONCEPT
‘Catch the sound from the ocean’ is a poetic interpretation of a bookstore nestled at the foot of a mountain in Shenzhen, China. Designed by 00group, the proposal is a sculpted white building with three large openings pointing towards the sea, sky, and woods. As such, visitors can collect the sounds and sceneries from the surroundings. ‘It is like a small spiritual lighthouse, continuously converging and bridging the fragments of nature within the spiritual world of reading,’ says the architectural team.
EXPERIENCING CHANGES OF COLOR, LIGHT, AND SOUND FROM WITHIN
In line with the bookstore’s fluid shape, the 00group team did not embed any apparent boundaries between the indoors and outdoors. Instead, nature seems to wander gently into the room while internal activities gracefully flow out along the curve. Indeed, walking into the bookstore, sitting on the wooden floor and seats, visitors can quietly watch the changes in color, light, and sound that fill up the room. ‘It is like filtering the natural environment in this small container of a space — like a work of art,’ comments the designers.
One particularly poetic expression coming from this design concept is the movement of light envisioned inside the bookstore. As the sun changes positions throughout the day, the circular light spots created by the openings and reflected against the interior surfaces begin to move with it. Therefore, the core of the space captures the touching moments of coexistence between humans and nature on site.
Project info:
Name: catch the sound from the ocean
Location: Shenzen, China
Program: bookstore
Year: 2021
Status: research
Architectural concept: 00group
Renderings and models: 00group
