Twisted Brick Shell Concept Library

Twisted Brick Shell Concept Library
Qingyan Zhu

Twisted Brick Shell Concept Library

The Concept Library is a spiral shell embraced by high grass field, located in rural area of Zhejiang Province, China. It tries to explore the possibility of the fusion between contemporary formal expression and vernacular material culture.

photo_credit Qingyan Zhu
Qingyan Zhu
photo_credit Qingyan Zhu
Qingyan Zhu
photo_credit Qingyan Zhu
Qingyan Zhu
photo_credit Qingyan Zhu
Qingyan Zhu

The Concept Library is approximately 10 meters in diameter and 5 meters high. The continuous surface is generated by two semicircles sweeping from one to the other, blurring interior and exterior. The shell is made of red bricks, not by masonry, but all casting in-situ. Sunlight sheds into dim interior through the opening at the top. Visitors can read text inside the acrylic balls through the small holes in the walls. The texts overlays with the landscape, creating a poetic moment to connect body, mind and nature. 

Caption
photo_credit Fangfang Tian
Fangfang Tian
photo_credit Qingyan Zhu
Qingyan Zhu

The distribution of bricks on the double-curved surface presents a great challenge to construction. The bricks are positioned by perforated steel plates that work as steel reinforce framework and then filled by high strength concrete. These three materials work together as a total structure. Bricks in 12 different widths are distributed along the UV grid to ensure the radial continuity of the structure. The shell thus forms a refreshing construction logic and visual expression, which derives from stacked and interlocking masonry. The pixelated matrix distribution of the brick, the everchanging thickness of 'mortar' (which is actually in-situ concrete) subverts the common tectonic of brick construction.

photo_credit Qingyan Zhu
Qingyan Zhu
photo_credit Qingyan Zhu
Qingyan Zhu
photo_credit Qingyan Zhu
Qingyan Zhu

This is a bold attempt at rural construction, integrating digital industrialization with traditional materials. It is also trying to create a transcendent experience beyond mere idyllic expression of 'countryside'. The library is a contemporary shelter for body and mind, encouraging visitors to read and reflect a broader outside and inside.

Caption
Caption
Caption
Share or Add Twisted Brick Shell Concept Library to your Collections