Hauser & Wirth Pop-up Bookshop / dongqi Architects

Architects: dongqi Architects
Location: 10 Jianguo Middle Rd, Lu Wan Qu, Shanghai Shi, China
Design Team: Nan Jiang, Yiting Ma, Wenyi Han
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Raitt Liu

Text description provided by the architects. dongqi Architects designed the Hauser & Wirth Publishers’ pop-up bookshop located within Modern Eye, the art space of Modern Media Group in central Shanghai. The pavilion is assembled in the 3-story-high space facing the main entrance to communicate the ethos of Hauser & Wirth by showcasing H&W publications, selected artist products and the story of the Hauser & Wirth gallery and farm in Somerset, England.

The pavilion with sloped roof takes its inspiration from the the Granary Shed – a traditional English grain store which sits elevated by Staddle stones at the Hauser & Wirth gallery in Somerset, England. Traditionally used to store grain reaped from the land, and to protect it from the elements, the Granary Shed concept at Modern Eye has been reinterpreted.

To echo the grain stores’ simple shape and form within the bookstore space, on the one side array oak columns while mirror-finished stainless steel columns on the other side. The columns rise up to 3.5 metre high and then tilt as sloped roof until interposing with each other on the rooftop.

3mm-thick mirror-finished stainless steel sheets spacing 400mm, serving as bookshelves interpose with the columns. The steel sheets horizontally bind up with the columns and help to stabilize the whole structural system. The stairs and platform are designed to be interposed with the main structure.

Grasses and flowers are planted on the two existing tables to illustrate the landscape of Durslade farm in Somerset, England.

The mirrored stainless steel sheets reflect the surroundings and merge into the space, which contrast with the material of oak. Meanwhile, display the different views and details of books through multiple reflections. Dialogue between void and solid, finite and infinite runs through the whole concept of the pop-up bookshop.

The concept of the structure creates dialogue between reality and virtuality, tangibility and imagination, nature and civilisation, precision and infinity.