For a while, it seemed that Amazon would render all brick-and-mortar bookstores obsolete, but last autumn saw the fall of e-book sales and the ever-so slight resurgence of print, at least in the U.S.
If all bookstores looked like this one in Hangzhou in Eastern China, though, maybe that uptick would continue to skyrocket.
Shanghai-based firm XL-MUSE designed the spectacular, space-ship like Zhongsuhge-Hangzhou Bookstore located on Star Avenue in Binjiang District, a bustling commercial center. Its sleek, otherworldly design is sure to transport readers to new worlds.
The bookstore's main attraction is the massive Zhongsuhge Hall, an ovoid, amphitheater-like reading room with dark bookshelves lining the perimeter and mirrored ceilings.
A corridor leads to a more traditional reading area with tables and chairs, a cluster of vertical glass chandeliers, and, of course, walls lined with books. From there, one can step into an altogether new dimension into the Forest Gallery, a shining, white room featuring column-like shelves that appear to stretch beyond the mirrored ceiling.
The Children's Pavilion is something of a "learning playground" and has bookshelves shaped like a roller coaster, a ferris wheel, and a pirate ship.
This is not the first cool Chinese bookstore: Last year we saw the opening of this futuristic underground space in Chengdu.