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China’s Beautiful New Library Can Hold Over 1 Million Books

Libraries are a quiet refuge where you can read in peace and really focus in on whatever book  you pull off the shelf. Most are designed similarly enough that we know what to expect when we walk in, allowing us to zone out and dive into the words on the page. However, we don’t think we’d get much reading done if libraries started looking as beautiful as this new one in China.

This gorgeous room–brought to our attention via a Bored Panda–is part of a library in the Binhai Cultural District In Tianjin, China. The five story library that can hold up to 1.2 million books was created by Dutch design firm MVRDV; they collaborated with the Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute.

Like any library, there are offices, meeting rooms, stacks storing more books, and computer/audio rooms, but the main focal point is the gigantic sphere in the center of the main room that’s since been dubbed “The Eye of Binhai.”

If you’re particularly eagle-eyed, you’ll notice that the higher book-filled shelves in the space are actually decoration, which makes sense considering how impossibly difficult they’d be to get to. Still, even with the faux books, the space is so absolutely breathtaking that we doubt any reading actually gets done in this room.

While we’re happy no unlucky librarian has to drag out a few hundred of those wheelie step-stools to get to a high shelf, we certainly don’t envy the cleaning crew tasked with dusting all of them. But at least there’s no chance of books falling down?

Take a closer look at this mind-boggling beautiful book collection in the video below and let us know in the comments if you’d be able to concentrate in such a breathtaking room!

Images: MVRDV

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