Tianjin Binhai Library

The Binhai library opened in 2017, designed by the Dutch firm MVRDV with a local institute, and its central atrium became an internet phenomenon almost immediately: terraced white shelving rises in waves from floor to ceiling on both sides of a hall, wrapping around a mirrored sphere that houses an auditorium, so the space reads as a canyon or an eye. The upper shelves, too high to reach, carry printed images of books rather than volumes, a compromise that drew criticism when it emerged and which the architects attribute to changes made during construction. The working library holds well over a million volumes across the surrounding floors.

What you actually see

• The atrium - terraced shelving rising in waves around the hall.
• The mirrored sphere - the auditorium at the centre, reflecting the shelves.
• The printed upper shelves - images rather than books above reachable height.
• The cultural centre - the wider complex of museums around the library.

When to go

Year-round; the library is indoors and free. Weekends bring large numbers of visitors photographing the atrium. Weekday mornings are quietest. Opening hours are shorter than a typical city library.

Honest expectations

The upper shelves are printed images, not books, which disappoints visitors expecting the photographs to be literal. The building is in Binhai, forty-five kilometres from central Tianjin, an hour or more each way. Photography of the atrium is what most people come for.

Nearby

The Binhai cultural district surrounds it; central Tianjin lies west.