The BiblioHUB has been designed by Alterstudio Partners and presented in the exhibition Taking Care, curated by Tam Associati, in the Italian Pavilion at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.

The project has been developed in collaboration with AIB (Italian Libraries Association).

BiblioHUB is a mobile device designed for fostering culture, information and social relations, serving the network of Italian Libraries, enabling them to reach outlying areas, where it will stay for a few months in turn. Like a “treasure chest, BiblioHUB opens and expand outward to take possession of residual urban spaces. It is a multifunctional platform equipped as a reference point for culture, libraries leisure and citizens’ services, lending point of books and e-books / multimedia station / internet point / bookcrossing / wi-fi hotspot. A recreational-educational workshop for children, and a social meeting place. An instrument of participation in civic life, for social inclusion and cohesion.

The library is one of the few “neutral” and “safe” public places where people of different ages, educational background, social background and place of origin can meet: an important ganglion not only of culture but also the local welfare system, to increase the “social capital” of a region and build communities. A portrait of this diverse community is the laser image etched into the metal on one side of BiblioHUB: this is a drawing by the illustrator Guido Scarabottolo, who reworked the self-portraits taken by a hundred users at a workshop in a public library in Milan, specifically organized for the Biennale.

“Taking Care” presented 5 different projects of 5 mobile devices for 5 organizations that work promoting 5 common goods: Culture (AIB), Health (Emergency), Legality (Libera), Sport (UISP) and Environment (Legambiente).

Specifically for the Biennale exhibition Libri Finti Clandestini created a special artist book that describes the BiblioHUB design process, while some videos describes the project and some of the libraries built by Alterstudio Partners, designed to be urban condenser and social places.

Design team

Alterstudio Partners

Marco Muscogiuri, Matteo Schubert, Micaela Bordin, Giorgio Faccincani, Camilla Pravettoni, Erika Zerbinati

In collaboration with

Guido Scarabottolo  Illustration

Libri Finti Clandestini  Artist Book

Claudio Carlini  rendering

Elisabetta Brian  Photos

Lorenzo Bailo e Nicola Botti  Videos