East Tai Lake Himalayan Audio Bookstore

The design of the space, it carries the culture, civilization and the corresponding environmental factors. —— Mario Bellini

East Tai Lake Himalayan Audio Bookstore is Located in the East Tai Lake Ecological Tourism Resort in Wujiang, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. The project combines local characteristics without changing the original building walls and strengthens the cultural theme planning and design around East Tai Lake and Party Construction culture, creating a new characteristic cultural space that is stylish, intelligent and dynamic.

Nowadays, people are used to a fast-paced life and fragmented reading, which has led to a significant reduction in traditional reading space. The audio story library with "Hearing East Tai Lake" is an online platform for people to learn about the landscape and culture of Tai Lake and retrieve the lost leisure time. East Tai Lake Himalayan Audio Bookstore is like an onsite window, showing people the East Tai Lake together with audio stories. On the left side of the site is an exhibition hall full of modern technology. A large sand table separates the exhibition hall from the “Hui” Living Room. The cold texture of technology and the warm atmosphere of cultural stories are perfectly blended in the whole space.

The overall style of the East Tai Lake Himalayan Audio Bookstore is mainly in log color and the sound flows in the wood grain, giving people a warm and comfortable feeling. The design of the “Hui” Living Room is inspired by the representative elements of the Tai Lake scenery: the ripples in the water of Tai Lake are similar to sound waves, from which we extracted the element of circle. The overall shape of the lake bay is similar to the form of water flow, from which we extracted the concept of flow. The combination of layers of circles and flowing lines generates the entire space of the exhibition hall.

In the actual exhibition hall, the circular part corresponds to a small sound creation theatre, equipped with a large movable screen area, which is relatively closed. While the main hall outside the theatre includes an entrance bar, a cultural creation showcase, a relaxation area and an audio library. The design team adopt the method of turning fragments into whole, changing the previous situation where the space was broken up by different design languages, and dividing the different areas with a unified flowing form.

The bar at the entrance of the exhibition hall has a ripple grille to suit the sloping façade of the building, which enhances the visual effect and also serves as a display function. Hand-painted maps and seats are placed on one side of the bar.

The element of water flows throughout the design of the main hall. The designers use the form of water flows to wrap the space, with all walls made up of rippling grilles. The visual aspect allows visitors to experience the sounds echoing throughout the space. In addition, the flowing walls house functions such as 'sound postcards', 'sound archives' and 'sound workshops'. The "headphone forest", "cultural and creative exhibition" and "leisure seating" on the side of the window are also designed according to the same concept. The seating and booths in the exhibition hall also follow the form of the water flow and are in harmony with the walls. Together with the audiovisual creations and bespoke products on display, the characteristics of East Tai Lake are permeated in every detail and conveyed to visitors through sound and space.

The main hall has several separate multi-purpose tables, which can be used for seating, tabletop and display at the same time. The three tables serve as three booths in the conventional arrangement. When the exhibits are removed, the tables can be used as table tops for visitors in the active mode.

The overall design of the circular Sound Creation Theatre is similar to that of the exhibition hall. The ripple pattern covers the entire space, forming a staircase that can accommodate many people, which will be used as an interactive communication area for guests in the later Himalaya series IP sharing activities. The circles on the floor seem to symbolize the collision of ideas between the speaker and the audience, sending ripples through the theatre. This is echoed by the lighting on the roof. The stainless steel roof is like water, reflecting the entire theater. The exterior of the small theatre is divided into a small live space in the form of a glass compartment set into the flowing wall, isolating the outside sound and meeting the demand for live events.

The completion of the East Tai Lake Himalayan Audio Bookstore will add the warmth of sound to the scenic area of Tai Lake and inject new vitality into the long-standing culture of Tai Lake. The design team hope more people can hear East Tai Lake, fashion, wisdom and sports here.

Project Name: East Tai Lake Himalayan Audio Bookstore
Design Year: 2021.08 - 2022.12
Design Team: Mingfeng Xiao, Lei Chen, Nan Yang, Xiangpeng Kong
Project location: Zone 3, East Tai Lake Avenue, Wujiang District, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province
Gross built area: 300m2
Space photography: Yanshe Vision