Libraries give time. Time is part of their DNA. It shapes the rhythm of the place and allows content to breathe. As a meeting point for culture, language, and everyday life, the Brixen City Library brings people together and unites several architectural eras within its new building. For this space, we developed a wayfinding system that provides orientation while still leaving room for the architecture and the books.
As a new building, the Brixen City Library had to bring together many layers: different architectural periods, different areas within the building, and a multilingual library with German and Italian literature. From this came the ambition to make connections visible while at the same time creating a guiding overall atmosphere.
At the center was the idea of wayfinding systems. They have to serve and provide orientation, but they also carry character. We chose a typeface that reflects this principle and extended it through a continuous line, horizontally as a basic structure and vertically as an expansion, in order to bring together both themes and languages. The design remains calm and reduced, black on white as a homage to literature.
The design carries through everyday life in the library, from the corporate design and flyers to the signage itself. The linear structure recalls the order of a bookshelf, linking content and space. Generous surfaces allow the architecture to unfold and give the books their presence. The wayfinding system was developed with the same sensitivity: restrained in expression, but strong in effect.
The website follows this internal order as well. It sees itself as an additional space of the library. The line moves from the building into the digital realm, where it becomes a quiet guide through an offering that is constantly in motion.