Dating back to 1926, the annual judging of the Dutch "Best Verzorgde Boeken" (Best Dutch Book Designs) is the oldest of its kind in Europe. We provided the exhibition design for the presentation of the 2015 selection at Beijing Design Week 2016.

We created four reading rooms inside gallery offices under construction. Within the rough, predominantly white spaces, we created a colourful presentation where people feel comfortable to spend hours to engage with the stunning selection of books on display. Large library-style reading tables placed central in each room allowing visitors to sit either side of the tables. The slanted surface of the tables make the books lay comfortable for the user to browse. The seats are made from wooden logs that are off-cuts from local hutong renovations in the Baitasi area.

The colour scheme is a deep prussian blue for the tables on which the books come to stand out. For graphic design we created a colourful signage that is both joyful and intelligible.

Client:

Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Location:

Beijing

Size:

70sqmtr

Year:

2016

Photo credits:

Studio HVN