JOIN USAre you one of those people who doesn't like to be watched while reading a book? Well, you'll probably be ready to make an exception if you visit China's stunning new library.
This library is an incredible structure built like a giant spherical auditorium in the middle that looks like a giant eye. Book-lovers from around the world can prepare to be awed by the massive, futuristic library with space to hold more than one million books
The library is located in the Binhai home Cultural District in Tianjin. Tianjin is a coastal city that borders the Beijing municipality. It is located next to a park and is part of a group of five cultural buildings that are connected by a public corridor underneath a glass canopy.
It is five-storeyed and was designed by Dutch design firm MVRDV in collaboration with the Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute (TUPDI), and has since been dubbed 'The Eye of Binhai'. It covers 34,000 square metres and can hold up to 1.2 million books.
Taking just three years to complete, the library features a reading area on the ground floor, lounge areas in the middle sections and offices, meeting spaces, and computer or audio rooms at the top. It provides an opportunity for studying too; however, how much studying we'd get done is debatable because we are likely to be too busy marvelling the awesome architecture.
Turns out, most of these futuristic-looking floor to ceiling shelves are painted to look like they're full of books, but in reality, much of the covers in the hall are printed images. The real books are stored in other rooms in the building.