Literary air: books are not decoration but in use

A space imbued with a scholarly atmosphere, created by books that are in use, not merely decorative. A full wooden bookshelf, from floor to ceiling, with minimalist lines and no moldings, is packed with a large number of books—Chinese thread-bound and hardcover books, foreign art books, periodicals. The spines vary in color and height, arranged in an orderly but not overly deliberate manner, with about twenty percent of the space left for a few small objects. On the desk in front of the bookshelf, there is a stack of open books, a pair of glasses, a pen, and an inkstone, indicating recent use. A few books are placed horizontally on top of upright books, and one has a bookmark. This state of being used is the source of the scholarly atmosphere, rather than a neat display. Avoid: arranging books by color into a gradient, making the bookshelf neatly blank like a display cabinet, using brand new uniform bindings, depicting the desk as empty.

Translated from Chinese by AI.

一個以書構成人文感的空間。一整面木質書架從地做到天花,線條極簡沒有線腳,塞著大量的書——中文的線裝書與精裝書、外文的畫冊、期刊,書背的顏色與高度不一,排列有序但不刻意,約留出兩成的空隙放著幾件小器物。書架前的案桌上有一疊攤開的書、一副眼鏡、一支筆與一個硯台,顯示這裡剛才有人在用。有幾本書橫放在直立的書上,一本夾著書籤。這種被使用的狀態是書卷氣的來源,而不是整齊的展示。避免:把書按顏色排成漸層、讓書架整齊留白像展示櫃、使用全新統一的裝幀、把案桌畫成空無一物。