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.

History

The library was designed by the Rotterdam firm MVRDV with the Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute as one of the five main buildings of the Binhai Cultural Center. On a tight schedule set by the local government it went from first drawings to opening in under three years, opening in October 2017 under the nickname "The Eye" (Wikipedia, Tianjin Binhai Library).

What's there

• 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.

What to expect

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.

Key facts