Little Free Libraries are one thing, but Beijing-based architecture studio LUO Studio is taking the idea of a tiny home for books to a new level. The firm created Shared Lady Beetle and while the name doesn’t tell you much of anything about what it is, I’ll kill the suspense for you: It’s a micro-library on wheels. The “beetle” part of the name relates to the library’s shape, which consists of a bike-led chamber that does indeed look like its namesake bug.
The main goal of this project was to help spread awareness about the abandoned bicycles that are littering communities around the world. The micro library can be moved around by riding the bike that’s attached to the front of the structure. It's made from the frame of a tossed-out bicycle share bike. LUO Studio turned the frame into a four-wheel cycle that could carry the structure’s belly, which holds the books and is made of iron sheets from cars. To access the books, the metal shell has two hinged doors that will open like the wings of a beetle when the bike isn’t in motion. There are a series of shelves inside and enough room to fit a small collection of books.
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Originally, the LUO Studio created the bike to help a friend brings his teaching props to school, according to Dezeen. While it currently lives as a library, the interior of the Beetle is flexible and can be arranged to transport all kinds of objects.
"As a designer living in the city, I have been thinking about the possibility for friendly reuse of those abandoned bikes,"LUO Studio founder Luo Yujie said in an interview with Dezeen. “Facing the unknown development in the city, we should stay positive, strive to change waste into treasure, and tackle changing situation responsively, so as to better take care of the city and the earth.”
