Zikawei Library
The Zikawei Library is a new library within the area of Zikawei in Shanghai. Located along the street of Caoxi Road and facing a public square, the building site is adjacent to the well preserved St Ignatius Cathedral and nearby the Observatory Building and the historic Zikawei Bibliotheca, perhaps the best examples of architecture built by the Jesuit missionaries at the beginning of 1900s.
In the recent decades the area has been subject to high density developments. Mixed-use complex, shopping centers and residential towers sprout in Zikawei leaving the historic buildings isolated. Since the early design stage, the project has focused on an intervention of “urban repair”. The new building aims to create a context in which the historic buildings are appreciated at best. The massing and the location of the library will re-define the public square in virtue of strengthening the presence of the Cathedral. A maximum building height of 18m is kept in order to not “compete” with the 26m height of the Cathedral’s main building.
As the books are paramount in the success of the project, the main architectural idea for the interiors is to create a central space dedicated only to books. Circulation and other functions are located around the central space.
The building has three stories above ground and two stories below ground. The central space is composed by two blocks of ‘bookshelves’, on two sides of the dramatic 16 meters high atrium in the middle. In the “bookshelves”, the addition of two mezzanine floors brings a sense of human scale into the atrium. No structure is exposed in the central space, and the structure frame become part of the ‘bookshelves’. The atrium is conceived as a forum where reading, cultural events, lectures and art installations can take place. People, books and activities come together creating a lively and dynamic public venue. An outside colonnade on the ground floor and outside loggias on the second and third floor provides a great view to the square and to the Cathedral.
The new building holds an elegant and discreet presence. The façade is made by slender fins that run vertically from ground to top floor. The fins envelope the whole building giving a sense of abstraction and unity to the building massing. Comprehensive research on the local traditional building materials led the design team to opt for concrete made with reconstituted stone elements. The light colour of the façade highlights the red colour of the bricks of St.Ignatious Cathedral. The thoughtful approach of the design in establishing the correct massing and façade generates a building that contribute to the improvement of the urban environment of Zikawei.
CREDITS
Architect: David Chipperfield Architects Berlin and Shanghai
Partners: David Chipperfield, Mark Randel, Libin Chen
Project architects: Sascha Jung, Alessandro Milani, Chuxiao Li
Project team: Fengjuan Sun, Nora Wuttke, Pavel Frank, Nicolas Gustin, Zhexu Du,
Miguel Angel
In collaboration with
Local design institute: Shanghai Tianhua Architecture Planning & Engineering Limited
Landscape architect: Design Land Collaborative
Interior architect: Wutopia Lab
