Never Ending Story

Mirrored ceilings and zigzag staircases create a hypnotising backdrop to this book store. Tucked away from street view, the Chongqing Zhongshuge Bookstore by Shanghai-based X+Living occupies the third and fourth floors of Chongqing’s Zodi Plaza retail development providing space for locals to read and study, the store also includes a children’s reading room and cafe.
At the centre of the store is a double-height hall, which features horizontal and vertical sets of stairs that lead up and across tall bookshelves that line the walls. The wide treads of the stairs double up as seats where visitors are encouraged to rest and read, a feature which the studio hopes will “immerse the reader in their books and thoughts”.
Mirrored panels that line the entire ceiling help amplify the size of the room and multiply the number of staircases.
Rather than attempting to visually represent specific landmarks or historic sites in the city, the studio focused on portraying a busy urban scene that could “arouse a cordial feeling among the citizens”.

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