Zhongshuge in Shanghai RéelMall
DesignDirector:LI Xiang
Design Team:LIU Huan,FAN Chen, TONG Ni-Na
Area:1000㎡
Location:4thfloor,Réel Mall, Jing’an District, Shanghai
Completion time: 2016.08
Photographer:Shao Feng
Backgroundof a busy city is always the randomly standing neon lights. Hurriedpedestrians cross the street from one side to the other, from one block toanother block by passing through the street. When viewing from above,you could see people come and go, the streets are crowded with pedestriansand vehicles, only the zebra crossings stand still to offer convoy and guidance. RéelMall is at such a street corner filled with traveling and short stay,which is located at the centre of Shanghai - Jing’an district, and Zhongshugeis at the end of the 4th floor of Réel Mall.
Come to the4th floor by taking a lift and look further into this space, youmight see the glass curtain wall with subtitles of Zhongshuge. It is dimlyvisible that the clean and neat white and grey colors fade softly into eachother harmoniously; and quiet halo comes out through the gaps of the subtitlecurtain wall. Walk closer and then walk into it. You would find out that thestory Zhongshuge is going to tell is somehow relatedto zebra crossing. This is the feeling that this Zhongshuge store wants toexpress, and this is a microcosm of busy Shanghai. The plain concreterepresents the color of the city road, and white book tables stand still on theroad in an orderly manner. On the floor, there are painted whitezebra crossings linking to the book tables, which give clear guidance to thepath between book tables. On the wall, it is fully covered withwhite circular tubes. Each of the white circular tubesspread over the wall could retract into or stretch out of the wall freely, inthis way, different array patterns could be formed with such flexibility. Whilethis flexible design acts as book shelves, it also reflects the quick changedsocial status quo. Here, readers enter into a city space where there is noheavy traffic, but only quiet “roads and zebra crossings” and mountains ofbooks on the books tables. Zebra crossing is like books that accompany ourgrowth. Get the correct guidance at the right time. The spiritual connectionbetween books and readers is thus expressed.
Whatconnects to this space is a long corridor for leisure reading, where there is along row of park benches. The book shelves are placed at the two sides of thecorridor, and there is a street lamp at a regular distance from oneanother. This is not only a reading corridor but also an interior reading park.Walking slowly in the world of books, when you get tired, you could sit on thechairs under the street lights and relax your mind by reading your favoritebooks- this is the reading environment that this space intended to create for readers.
Walkingthrough the quiet park of books you will arrive at the castle of booksin the sky. A winding path gets through the 4 architecture-like book shelveswhich are built with shelves, bringing the reader with an experience of walkingthrough a real city of books. Along the path, you will notice that exterior walls of every “house” arebuilt with book shelves, and on the wall there are big windows through whichthe interior of the “house” could be seen. From the inside of the “house” youwill find out that the “houses” are book libraries with different themes ofculture and art. The interior area of the 4 “houses” are very different, thesmall one is like a quiet study while the big one could hold a small readingparty. Here, the designer builds a city with books. Different from the outside bustling streets, this place is a spiritual world where readers couldcommunicate with authors quietly through the books. The width of thepath between book shelves is changing, and on this winding path you can seezebra crossings, you may dimly feel that you were walking in the centuries-old Shanghai streets where you can feelthe romance and mood of Shanghai.
The worldof mortals is a temptation that everyone could not escape from. Shanghai, inparticular, a “top-ranked romantic and rich place within the world of mortals”,is saturated with far more desires and helplessness. Thus people who strugglewithin this world of mortals always long for a quiet place where their body andmind could be set free! Zhongshuge (Réel Mall) uses the concept of zebracrossing topenetrate and lead the plot of the story, which expresses theidea that under the busy and impetuous pace of city, books, being a companionto life, is acting as association between all kinds of functions of the cityand our life; and that books give convoy and guidance to our growthjust like what zebra crossing does!
