backstory 112 T HE NEVERENDING story comes to life at China's Tianjin Binhai Library. Created by MVRDV, a design firm based in The Netherlands with an office in Shanghai, the library is part of a collaboration with the Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute to create a cultural district for the city. And what a collaboration it is, surrounding visitors with Instagram-worthy floor-to-ceiling cascading bookcases. The undulating bookshelf is the building's main spatial device and is used both to frame the space and to create stairs, seating and the layered ceiling. While only two levels of books are real (for now), perforated aluminum plates printed with book images give readers the illusion that they are surrounded by seemingly endless shelves of reading material. Fire up those library cards! - Michelle M. Havich MARCH 2018 DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM GLOBALSHOP.ORG Photo by OSSIP VAN DUIVENBODEhttp://www.DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM http://www.GLOBALSHOP.ORG