Mudu Library, Shanghai by Atelier Diameter

A wooden reading room sits alongside Mudugang River.

Mudu Library is an industrialized model building located in an open space which will be developed into an urban public green space in future. Named after Mudugang River besides the project, the building is designed to be a riverside reading room. Although this library is not considered as a permanent building, the adaptability to the surrounding is still taken into account in the design process.

Technologies of wood structure, prefabricated construction and lightweight frame are applied to achieve sustainability, easy-built process, and to minimized environmental impact. The program of this public library is to define the proper function of this model building, in order to keep building's vitality by readers' interactions.

Glulam post-beam system combines with the Nail Laminated Timber (NLT) roof as the support structure. With full-height glass curtain walls as enclosure façade, Mudu Library is able to access the panorama of the surroundings, while the double-curved roof achieves the sense of levitation. From the inside, three function areas are defined by light-colored wood structure and decoration, which are considered as an oblique system. Meanwhile, dark-colored carpet and curtain wall framework contribute as an orthogonal system, together with the oblique system, a binary relationship is then formed to create vitality without boundary in this 10m*10m building space.