Third Places for Würzburg

Based on the participative creation process of its district library Hubland, which opened in 2019, the Würzburg municipal library built on this experience and worked with residents to develop “third-place concepts” for its other five locations. These respond to the circumstances on location and have found their way into a comprehensive library development plan that considers the needs of the urban community, highlights architectural and design aspects and defines various milestones. The municipal library cooperated with the association “Stadt für Kinder” (City for Kids), a funding organisation headed by one of Würzburg’s city councillors which is dedicated to expanding municipal services targeted at families, children and adolescents.

The library shared ideas with residents of Würzburg in a high-profile and transparent manner and utilised such formats as civic forums and methods of design thinking. It was part of the project to install a project space away from the library premises in a centrally located vacant building to serve as a venue for creating a prototype of at least one of the spatial design ideas. Aside from these measures, the project analysed demographic data from the respective city districts in order to identify prospective activities for the future.

Project title: Third Places for Würzburg – Individual Solutions for City Districts and the Central Library. Participative Development of a Library Development Plan.

Partner: Stadt für Kinder e.V.