Weishan Chongzheng Academy Bookstore of Librairie Avant-Garde / Chinese Mainland
Further images
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 1
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 2
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 3
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 4
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 5
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 6
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 7
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 8
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 9
)
-
(View a larger image of thumbnail 10
)
Passage of Light
Anchored within the ancient fabric of Weishan, this renovation breathes new rhythm into a Ming Dynasty academy through an architecture of lightness and restraint. Two slender, steel-framed book galleries extend along the site’s east–west axis, hovering between courtyards like luminous bridges that stitch history to the present. Their diagonally tapered interiors draw the eye into a vanishing point—an illusion of depth that turns each step into a quiet pilgrimage through knowledge. The outer façades descend in gentle terraces, serving as exhibition shelves and stepped seating for an outdoor theatre shaded by centuries-old trees. At the eastern end, a cylindrical pavilion rises in counterpoint to the traditional gabled roof, its sunken glass base revealing vibrant interiors to the passing street. Materials echo the past in tone and tactility: fair-faced concrete imprinted with pine-grain texture, brushed steel, and warm wood coalesce into a language both delicate and enduring—a living dialogue between earth, memory, and time.
