Tokyo-based architectural studio Hiroshi Nakamura and NAP recently completed a fascinating underground library. A new reading space called the Underground Library is located under a grassy hill at Crookfields Sustainable Farm in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. This innovative project was designed to offer patrons an introspective literary experience while blending in with the surrounding natural space.
“The Underground Library is a cavernous place hidden beneath the soil overgrown with trees and flowers,” says Crook Fields. “Just as plants and vegetables grow in symbiosis with microorganisms in the soil, we burrow into the soil, encounter books, accumulate knowledge, and cultivate our imagination. To.”
Designed as a reflective and striking space, the Underground Library is designed so that visitors only need to stumble upon its entrance while wandering around Crookfield’s sustainable farm. The foyer thus emerges from the ground, gently inviting guests to enter and explore the woven corridors.
Bookworms are completely immersed as they navigate through a series of winding corridors and roam the warm interior spaces filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, cozy seating spots dotted around, and hidden reading nooks. can do.
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In keeping with traditional Japanese building aesthetics, the interior boasts warm wood furnishings, neutral tones, and raw concrete floors, surrounded by curved glass walls overlooking a central lawn courtyard. It connects visitors with nature while allowing natural light into the underground space.
At the center of the library is a circular room with a magnificent timber ceiling made up of a series of thin beams that twist upwards to a central circular skylight that filters light into the space below, almost touching each other. It is woven.
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Extensive lush lawn garden beds are set above, above and around the basement space, beautifully camouflaging the library in its rural surroundings. Landscape architecture allows for easy monitoring of irrigation and water retention, and easy and regular maintenance over different seasons.
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The Underground Library opened to the public on February 16th and houses over 3,000 books across over 50 categories, absorbing lessons and wisdom from nature while inspiring people for the future. The purpose is that.
“We chose books that offer a unique breadth and connection to poetry, philosophy, history, religion, science and economics, with a focus on nature and agricultural lifestyles,” added Kurkku Fields. rice field.
Source: Kurkku Fields, Hiroshi Nakamura, NAP (via Designboom)
