LONGSHANG BOOKSTORE

Longshang Bookstore sits where water, bridge and road meet on the Xuhui campus of East China University of Science and Technology, beside the College of Art and Media and the library. As a focal point for sightlines and movement within the campus's historic setting, it was conceived as a major public space combining bookstore, café, design shop and salon. While keeping the memory of the site and raising its spatial and structural quality, the design uses light as the medium to reshape a sense of place. Stair, wall, roof and window, the most basic architectural elements, become spatial devices that translate between inside and outside. Playful, artful gestures let light and shadow meet the body across the line of solid and void. The bookstore carries the freedom, flow, plurality and artistry of a campus commons, drawing students and staff to use one space in many ways and opening endless room for exchange. Its integrated design became a pilot for teaching, research and practice within the department, and for open, cross-disciplinary campus renewal.