The fall workshop of the aac Academy for Architectural Culture took place from the 1st to the 24th of September, 2021, in the aac’s studios at the Rainvilleterrasse Campus in Hamburg under the guidance of Volkwin Marg and Nikolaus Goetze. At a time when almost all media are available digitally, we have to ask how useful traditional libraries are as places of information and learning. In response to this situation, many so-called multimedia libraries have been created over the last ten years that also store and make available digital content. The City of Hamburg also wants to build a multimedia library in which traditional library functions are combined with interactive concepts.Alongside highly developed digital equipment, a dedicated space will be created for interaction with and use of all types of media, a multimedia library that is open to the public and involves the citizens, which means that the building will also function as a contemporary form of a traditional community center. The site for the aac design at Gerhard Hauptmann Platz is located in central Hamburg. The site available is that of the former main branch of HSH Nordbank built in the 1970s. The future multimedia library is intended to become an urban place of attraction, including facilities beyond those of a pure multimedia library, such as restaurants and a makerspace available to the public, as well as workshops, recording studios, smaller cinemas, and events rooms. With a variety of spaces, a network of public pathways, and attractive landscaped areas, a new urban center can be created.

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