SEOUL, February 25 (AJP) -Inside Starfield Suwon, a soaring cathedral of books rises through four floors, blurring the boundary between retail space and reading room.
Opened as the second Starfield Library after the flagship at COEX Mall, the Suwon branch features bookshelves stretching nearly 22 meters high, spanning from the fourth to the seventh floors. From almost any angle, visitors can look up into towering rows of spines — or gaze down into a layered landscape of light, steel, and paper.
A Library Without Walls
Unlike traditional libraries confined to a single level, Starfield’s design dissolves vertical boundaries. Escalators, open balconies, and glass railings connect each floor visually, allowing the space to be experienced as one continuous volume.
Whether standing on the upper decks or passing through lower corridors, visitors remain part of the same architectural conversation — one shaped by height, openness, and quiet spectacle.
Each floor integrates cafés and lounge-style seating, encouraging visitors to linger rather than simply pass through. Coffee cups and novels coexist. Shoppers pause mid-errand to read. Students settle into armchairs beneath shelves that seem to vanish into the ceiling.
The result is a hybrid space: part library, part living room, part social hub.
Beyond books, the library hosts regular performances, talks, and lectures, positioning itself as a cultural venue as much as a reading space. Weekly and monthly programs bring authors, musicians, and speakers into the atrium, transforming the quiet tower into a communal forum.
To some, the vertical library feels like a modern sanctuary — a rare place where reading is celebrated at monumental scale. To others, its location inside a shopping mall raises questions about whether books have become another aesthetic backdrop for consumption.
In Suwon, books no longer whisper from hidden shelves. They rise, unmistakably, toward the sky.
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