Not Just a Library

• Prize
  Winner in Institutional Design
• Company/Firm
  J.C. Architecture
• Designer
  Johnny Chiu, Nora Wang
• Other Credit
  Client: Taiwan Design Research Institute
• Location
  Taipei
• Project Date
  2020

This is not just a library, not just a 83-year-old bathhouse monument, not just a cultural venue.
Down the corridor, with lights filling upwards and incoming scent of books, one can let go of the chaotic outdoors and enjoy being bathed in spirits and knowledge.

Taking the inspiration from a drop bathhouse, pick up a book from the bookshelf made of stacked birch plywood, sink it in. The plywood reveals a gentle light that accompanies people like a book bath, immerse them in invisible thoughts. Words recording speeches, speeches shaping the communication between the inspiration and creativity between inner hearts and mind. Here, it doesn’t just serve the purpose of personal gatherings, the possibilities are indefinite, from concerts, lectures, extension stages, transforming the concept of an original bathhouse into an experimental showcase of literature.