Open Air Library

Mar 8, 2011

Brit Insurance Designs of the Year
Architecture Award Winner 2011
Open Air Library, Magdeburg, Germany. By Karo Architekten.

The development of the Open Air Library began five years ago when the community of Magdeburg staged an intervention in an abandoned district that formally housed a public library. A 1:1 scale model was developed using beer crates and overwhelming pubic support was shown with book donations that totalled more than 20,000. Occupying a central outdoor space, the Open Air Library operates a trusting open shelves policy where residents are free to borrow books 24 hours a day.

“Thought-provoking creative re-use which energises a tired corner of an exhausted city. Cheap, flexible and dignified, the Magdeburg library presumes citizens are intelligent, interested and responsible. This may be unrealistic, but it’s nonetheless inspiring.”
Stephen Bayley, Brit Insurance Designs of the Year 2011 jury chair