The world’s largest bookstore has opened in China

With its 131,000 square meters, Eye of the Bay Area is now the largest bookstore in the world. It is located in Shenzhen, more precisely in the Bao’an district, in the western part of the city along the Pearl River. The new Book City, promoted by the Shenzhen Publishing Group, continues a long-standing Chinese tradition: bookstores as urban devices, public spaces that go beyond their commercial role to become cultural and symbolic centers—similar to projects developed in recent years in rural villages to help revitalize the Chinese countryside. In this case, the complex is the result of work by more than ten designers and houses 300,000 volumes divided into nearly 100,000 thematic categories. The building consists of two main bodies, north and south, spread across four levels (two above ground and two underground), which from above resemble glowing eyes. The two structures are part of an organism intertwined with the surrounding landscape, through a masterplan of stairways, covered passages, green roofs, and outdoor public spaces.  

Inside, the visitor’s path is marked by thematic areas such as Art Garden, dedicated to art and design; Cultural Kaleidoscope, for the humanities; and Joyful Meta, designed for families and children. There is also a folklore museum of the Greater Bay Area, a theater, exhibition galleries, a center for Chinese science fiction inspired by Liu Cixin’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy (which includes The Three-Body Problem), and above all a 20,000-square-meter rooftop garden that transforms the bookstore into an elevated landscape overlooking the city.