House of knowledge

2019

The former main post office building is treated with respect for its architectural heritage. As a consequence of respecting the existing building, its typology and atmosphere, any façade caesura has been deliberately avoided; only the new two-storey city loggia opposite the town hall emphasises the public nature of the building, just like its famous Renaissance role models. The new market and library hall, the city’s new sustainable living room, stands in the former commercial courtyard of the preserved architectural ensemble – what a treat!

The structural expression and stepped cubature of the new building refer to the structure, expression, scale and grain of the neighbouring brewery buildings. As with the old commercial buildings, the shape and height of the new building develop from its internal functions. Wood as the primary building material of the new building, urban kitchen gardens and public spaces on the terraces of the new building open up a variety of places for the citizens of Bochum to experience, utilise and relax – accessible at any time and for everyone. The themes of market, education, enjoyment, community, sustainable construction and improved urban microclimate through the green, moisture-retaining plant terraces are given visual expression through the architecture of the new building. The open-space areas above the market hall emphasise the transformation of what was understood by a library in the past and what the library and in particular the Bochum House of Knowledge will be in the future: a place of communication, debate, learning from and with each other in spatial situations that can be reprogrammed and experienced again and again.