Excerpt: Cardboard-formed Exhibition Space 2.0, designed by LUO Studio, creates three different methods to assemble the display bookshelves, including vertical-horizontal plugging, front-rhombus plugging, and lateral-bevelled plugging. In this way, each section of the bookshelves between the three spans is different. The construction method used for the making of bookshelves makes it more convenient for the recycling and reuse of corrugated boards after the exhibition.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] In late April 2023, LUO Studio was invited again by curator Zuo Jing to join the TBB Xinyang Book Market: Books ‘N Tea event. The studio was asked to design and build exhibition settings for 18 different bookstores and institutions engaged in the temporary book market. The location of the exhibition was set in the Autumn Bookhouse and Winter Bookhouse (designed by Atelier Liu Yuyang Architects) in Baihuayuan Four Seasons, Xinyang, Henan Province. It was also a task with a strict time limit; the whole process of design, communication, processing, and construction needed to be finished within 7 days. Therefore, how to create spatial diversity within such a tight schedule was essential yet challenging.
Follow the Architectural Space: The exhibition venue is a small building complex with a fan-shaped plan. Buildings in the north and south of the site are arranged symmetrically along the east-west axis. Among them, the north building consists of two independent spaces under the same roof, presenting two small circular sectors on the plane, one of which is used for forums and activities, and the other is for special exhibitions, including SYU HEOI CANTON and the Expo of Local Publications.
The plane of the south building appears to be a complete fan shape. It provides a larger exhibition space for 18 bookstores and institutions. In the middle of the circular space is an open sector composed of three spans, suitable for placing bookshelves and tables. The combination of two rows of bookshelves facing the outer glass windows and one row of exhibition tables in the middle is arranged in the space of each span. This creates three parallel areas (two bookshelves and four small tables in each area). In this way, efficient spatial division for the 18 bookstores is realised in a way that conforms to the architectural space.
Various Types of Construction: As the 18 different independent bookstores participating in the exhibition have various concepts, it is very important to create diversity through effective design methods, which facilitates not only the distinction between bookstore brands but also the organisation of the exhibition. According to the size of the three spans in the building, three different methods to assemble the display bookshelves were worked out, including vertical-horizontal plugging, front-rhombus plugging, and lateral-bevelled plugging. In this way, each section of the bookshelves between the three spans is different.
The three bookshelf assembly methods also considered ways of placing and fetching books of various sizes. The bookshelves assembled with vertical-horizontal plugging can place books of different sizes, and this type of bookshelf can also hold the largest number of books. The type of bookshelves installed through the front-rhombus plugging method is more suitable to present hardcover books.
For softcover and smaller-sized books, a bent acrylic card component needs to be attached so as to meet the demands for placing a greater variety of books. However, fewer books can be placed due to the increase in flexibility in this way. The capacity of different types of bookshelves with distinct assembling methods exactly corresponds to the varied number of books (40, 60, 80, etc.) provided by each bookstore.
Corrugated Cardboards in New Colors: In 2022, the space for the Back to the Future: Breaking the Time Barrier exhibition held at the Power Station of Art, Shanghai, was constructed by using corrugated cardboard in the regular light brown colour of kraft paper. In early 2023, the design team received several paper samples in red, black, and white colours newly developed by the paper factory. And different colours could be set as single-sided or double-sided cladding. The new coloured papers provided varied possibilities for the version 2.0 of exhibition space constructed by corrugated cardboard.
In a very limited time, taking up to 18 bookstores into consideration, LUO Studio chose to use the three new coloured paper materials and match different colours with different construction methods to finally form a wide variety of exhibition bookshelves.
Prefabricated & Handcrafted & Reversible: Limited by objective conditions, the task was to take no more than 7 days to complete the whole process from design to construction for the exhibition space for the temporary book market, so the construction must be highly standardized. All the components were manufactured rapidly in a mechanised way in the factory and modularly assembled on site. This achieved a high rate of prefabrication, avoiding the large waste of time caused by on-site construction.
However, the highly industrialised production method is obviously contrary to the humanistic attributes of books.
To strike a balance, Yukou Paper, which is handmade by a very unique ancient paper making method, was chosen for printing the graphic design deliverables such as the exhibition preface, posters, and bookstore logos instead of using regular paper produced in an industrial way. This kind of paper is slightly yellow and roughly textured, which matches well with the corrugated cardboard on its background, gives the impression of handcraft, and corresponds to the humanistic attributes of books. The curator Zuo Jing has been promoting this ancient handmade paper making technique by using Yukou paper in his daily work.
The project did not adopt the common way of screen printing on the exhibition wall, nor did it use industrial paper pasted directly on the wall, but chose to press the corners of Yukou paper with nails on corrugated cardboard. The construction method provides more convenience for the recycling and reuse of the corrugated cardboard after exhibition and realises high reversibility of the materials. This is consistent with the curator and design team’s dedication to sustainable practice for a long time.
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