Chanel has opened its first contemporary art library in mainland China, and it's not in a shopping mall. "Espace Gabrielle Chanel" now occupies a sleek stretch of the Power Station of Art, adding another layer to the museum's ongoing evolution from turbine hall to cultural catch-all.

The space houses over 50,000 titles — art, design, fashion, theory — arranged in a sculptural maze that nods to the curves of the Huangpu. Think less library stacks, more architectural installation. It's part reading room, part minimalist dreamscape.

There's also a theater, an exhibition space hovering above the main floor, a design lab, and a riverside terrace. It's clearly designed for more than just quiet browsing — more like a soft-power hub for Chanel's cultural diplomacy in China.

It's free, it's open to the public, and it's worth a visit — even if just to see how a luxury brand interprets "library" in 2025.