Li Xiaodong Atelier

Any guesses about what this building is used for?

What about now?

Or maybe this view helps. No? Well, would you believe that this is a library?

The Liyuan Library, near Beijing, China, was designed by Li Xiaodong Atelier, and is certianly not like any other library you've probably ever seen. According to the architects:

Because of the overwhelming beauty of the surrounding nature our intervention is modest in its outward expression. We can’t compete with nature’s splendor. The building blends into the landscape through the delicate choice of materials and the careful placement of the building volume. Especially the choice of material is crucial in blending with the regional characteristics. After analyzing the local material characteristics in the village we found large amounts of locally sourced wooden sticks piled around each house. The villagers gather these sticks all year round to fuel their cooking stoves. Thus we decided to use this ordinary material in an extraordinary way, cladding the building in familiar textures in a way that is strikingly sensitive.

(Via CONTEMPORIST)