The construction of a library in Ningbo marks a milestone of China’s course, as it is a historic city with an incredible importance in Chinese literature. Ningbo is known for having the most antique private library of the country, Tianyi Pavillion. It will witness the collection, investigation, restoration of antique books and also the cultural and current ones from the main collection, which will intensify and improve peoples knowledge.

A library is an organized collection of information resources made accessible to a defined community for reference or borrowing. Public and institutional collections and services may be intended for use by people who choose not to, or cannot afford to, purchase an extensive collection themselves, who need material no individual can reasonably be expected to have, or who require professional assistance with their research. Libraries often provide quiet areas for studying, and they also often offer common areas to facilitate group study and collaboration. Libraries often provide public facilities for access to their electronic resources and the Internet.

ANALYSIS OF URBAN ENVIRONMENT

REGIONAL CONTEXT

The project is located in Ningbo, a seaport city in the northeast of Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It lies south of the Hangzhou Bay, facing the East China Sea to the east. Ningbo borders Shaoxing to the west and Taizhou to the south, and is separated from Zhoushan by a narrow body of water.

CONCEPTUAL DESIGN

THE BOOKS

The origin of our idea comes from the analysis and study of the traditional construction, octagonal structured roof covers which we adapted to the different parts of the project with a current shape.

With this structure and with the books used as a remakable object we generate the floor of the proyect as a unión of opened books, that invite you towards the entrance os the building.

ROOF STRUCTURE

As a reminder of the countries culture, we use the traditional housing roofs in a figurative sense for the roof cover, formed by two different skins. A traslucent skin, which works during the day as an enviromental lighting filtered from the outside and in the late afternoon it turns in to a giant lamp towards the city. And an other tecnological secondary skin as a bioclimatic filter, which protects from the cold winter and the warm summer.

INTEGRATING

The design of the library is also the integration of green areas, the new blue axi created in the new masterplan to join the old city with the new one, pedestrion areas and the new projects; creating paved and green areas, interiors, exteriors,…

Not only we are projecting a library, it is also a union of different areas of relation where the people who visit can share their cultures, experiences, and knowledge consulting the books.

THE NEW LIBRARY

The concept of our project is that the library should contain more meanings. The architectural space should show a new experience for people, have free entrance, hi-tech and should be suitable for all ages and accesible for all kinds of disabilities bringing us pleasure and knowledge at the same time.

LANDSCAPE

In the design of the landscape, we utilize the element and the patterns like the shape of the books, connecting the green areas with the sea and pavement causing a harmony that leads the visitors towards the entrance of the building provoking an incredible curiosity that encourages them to go in.

INSPIRATION

The idea of the project started with the analysis of the traditional construction of Ningbo’s roof covers, the octogonal shapes. We also studied the shape and function of the books, as it is an remarkable object. Joining these two concepts we reached the inspiration of the plant of the building of our project.

In our proposal of the project, we utilize the range of design area, including the entire library and the outdoor exhibition, as well as surrounding urban environment as a whole unified space to design. The idea of our design came from our investigation of the traditional roof covers. We want to create a new center fully equipped with well-developed urban facilities to form a modern city area with a characterized traditional Jiangnan style.