aac Workshop, Hamburg, Germany
01.09 to 24.09.2021 at the Campus Rainvilleterrasse in Hamburg

This workshop was under the guidance of
Prof. Dr.- Ing. h.c. Volkwin Marg und
Dipl.- Ing. Architekt Nikolaus Goetze

Documentation of results (web-optimised)

Information on how to apply and take part in one of our upcoming aac courses, click here.

This year's autumn workshop of the aac dealt with the design for a "Library of Digital Knowledge" for Hamburg.

In times of digital availability of almost all media, the question arises as to the raison d'être of the library, hitherto a place of information procurement and educational gain and in today's world an apparent anachronism.

Following the example of the Oodi in Helsinki, a contemporary media library is also to be built in Hamburg, combining classic library uses with innovative "participatory concepts".

The new concept promotes the involvement of the population, so that the building can also represent an up-to-date form of traditional community centres. In combination with highly developed digital equipment, a space is to be created here for discussion and intensive engagement with all media.
The future location for the aac design is  in the immediate centre of Hamburg.

Like so many German city centres, Hamburg's inner city with its shopping and pedestrian zones has lost some of its attractiveness, and not only because of the Corona crisis. Many shops and even some of the department stores were already experiencing difficulties before the pandemic-related closures, and forecasts for the future also show a downward trend here. Online trade has increased strongly during the crisis, and presumably a larger number of customers will continue to shop this way in the future.

Hamburg's city centre is currently mainly characterised by its shopping opportunities; the large pedestrian zones and arcades currently offer no cultural or experience-oriented attractions apart from a few gastronomic offerings.

The goal is for the future digital library to be such a centre of attraction, with corresponding offers that go beyond the media library programme, such as gastronomy, the publicly accessible Maker Space with various workshops, cinemas and event rooms. Parts of the public education centre are also to be housed here, so that education, culture and teaching find a place next to each other here.
With spatial diversity, public circulation and communicative open spaces, a new urban centre is to be created here.

"We are also planning a meeting place where digitalisation can be experienced by all Hamburg residents. Today, citizens spend much more time in libraries, people meet, learn together or exchange ideas. The book halls are increasingly becoming a kind of shared living room for the big city. We want to build on this." (Quote from Senator of Culture Carsten Brosda, Welt am Sonntag).

The current plan is for 35,000 square meters of gross floor space, which will be newly planned or redesigned in the spirit of sustainability, incorporating parts of an existing building.

The three-and-a-half-week course was divided into several sections with interim presentations and corrections by renowned guest professors. In teams of 4 participants each, different approaches to solutions were developed and elaborated in the workshop rooms of the aac, in the former maritime school at Rainvilleterrasse in Hamburg.

You can find more impressions of this workshop on our Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
Participants: Karoline Aigner, Antigoni Antonopoulou, Alina Bergmann, Paula Chaves, Alena Dolzhikova, Tom Ehlers, Florian Fuchs, Paula Lorenzo, An Thi Thanh Nhan, Sahar Naz Taleb Nezhad, Konstantin Overdiek, Sergio Baron Soracipa, Diep-Dan Tran, Lina Wenzel, Xue Xiaolong, Yang Zhong

Tutors: Fabian Faerber, Walter Gebhardt, Prof. Philipp Kamps, Sona Kazemi, Anja Meding

Visiting Professors - Experts - Guest Critics: Antti Nousjoki, Elif Tinaztepe, Chris van Duijn