Open-air Library by KARO
German designers KARO have designed an outdoor library in Magdeburg, Germany.
Developed from an installation in 2005 made of beer crates, the new building comprises sheltered seating areas and niches to store books.
The new building is clad in wood and materials from a former warehouse.
Photographs are by Anja Schlamann.
Here's some text from KARO:
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We established in 2005 in an abandoned district center in East Germany. We started with a public intervention, using beercrates as building material.
It took some some years to organise the money to build this so called "bookmark" for real. It opened in June this year.
Beside the social aspects, the architectural kick is, that we re-used the facade of an old warehouse.
Last year, in its project-phase, it has been shown at the Venice Biennale in the German pavillon (updating Germany). An installation of it has also been shown in 2006 in the exhibition "Talking Cities" curated by Francesca Fergueson.
KARO is a platform for communication, architecture and space organisation, the members work as architects, artists, critics and jounalists, as well as teachers.
