Designing Chinese architecture for culture
The New Library of Tsinghua University, which implies an organic connection between new and old buildings on campus, was built in 1991 at the center of Tsinghua University.
The new library is three times as large as the old one. To avoid highlighting the new library and putting the old library into a subordinate position, the designer put the five-story sections of the new library in the back of the building and placed the low-rising sections in the front to achieve consistency and harmony with the old library.
The old library is eclectic, and the large auditorium has a Western classical style.
To integrate the new library into the surrounding environment and combine the new library with the old library and the large auditorium, architect Guan Zhaoye created axial echoes among the three, making them associated yet relatively independent.
There is a yard between the old library and the new one.
The new library's entrance is ingeniously placed in the yard, and the old library's main entrance is still at the most conspicuous place in the whole library building complex.
This yard combines the two libraries, creating a proportionate, pleasing and quiet "intermediate zone" and increasing layers in the campus space.
The new library adopts red bricks and gray tiles consistent with old buildings in the Tsinghua Garden, and details are treated properly to better combine it with the old building in style and size.
About the book
Chinese Architecture Written by Cai Yanxin Published by China Intercontinental Press, Beijing, 2018
Editor: Guo Lili
