For centuries, Chinese artists have drawn inspiration from Hangzhou’s scenery—its forests and famed West Lake. Today, the city— 110 miles west of Shanghai and connected by high-speed rail—has become a high-tech hub, with e-commerce giant Alibaba Group based there. Li Xiang, founder and design director of the Shanghai firm X+Living, skillfully fuses these influences—nature and technology—in her design of a 10,800-square-foot Zhongshuge Bookstore in the city’s Binjiang commercial district, close to the Qiantang River.
As customers enter the store, they discover a “forest” of white columns that double as vertical bookshelves. Mirrors on the ceiling and back wall of this space multiply the book “trees,” while glossy white floors provide a machine-honed ground plane. “Trees offer oxygen for lives,” says Li. “We tried to convey the idea that people need knowledge just as people need oxygen.”
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