By 2014, Taiwan’s southern port city of Kaohsiung will see the world debut of a green library built using a cable suspension structure.

As reported by T@iwan Today, this is a NT$1.18 billion (US$41 million) project which will rebuilt the existing Kaohsiung Public Library into a seven-story building housing some 500,000 books.  According to the library design competition winner Ricky Liu & Associates’ lead architect Ricky Liu, this is the world’s first library to use a steel-cable suspension structure.

There will be four main columns in the library building and each of the library floors will be hung from the columns using a complex suspension system. As a result of this, the building is said to use 70% less cement as compared to one that is build using the traditional method. Click on the image below to see more of the design proposal.

Courtesy of Kaohsiung City Government