With the world constantly evolving, there is a ton of information being formulated out there. Human intellect today is expected to evolve at the same rate for our world to continue our journey into the future. Despite all the information, reading and self-learning remain the most powerful tools available to mankind to consume knowledge. Learning increases awareness, exposure, and productivity, which leads to development. Despite its importance, education is still inaccessible to many communities in remote locations around the world. Self-learning, especially through reading, is crucial for the society’s development. It is important to power the growth of like-minded networks. It is necessary to have places promoting education and self-learning to educate the local population within the closest proximity. It will make them accessible to gainful employment opportunities in their home towns and will thereby avoid the need for migration elsewhere.

The competition challenged its participants to rethink and re-imagine the idea of the Library as a 21st-century self-learning and educational incubation space that not only sheds light on conventional means of knowledge but also encourages its users to interact, share ideas, and grow together. Participants were required to design a Tiny Library optimized for 75 users with engaging multifunctional spaces for all ages and spatial experiences where they were required to choose a site in a rural or remote context for the proposal and the structure should not exceed 300 sq.mt of built-up area. 

Volume Zero Competition thanks all the competitors for participating in this competition and for contributing to this competition's research.  Participants from more than 50 countries contributed valuable concept ideas to the contest, which was evaluated by a panel of international experts. The winning projects have been awarded a total cash prize of $4,000 distributed to the first 3 team winners.

The esteemed jury for judging this competition consisted of Puran Kumar (Studio PKA), Peter W. Ferretto (Condition Lab), Lui Hanxio (LLLab), Ahmad Thaneem (3dor concepts), Antonio Garza Ferrigno (Proyecto Reacciona), Catherine Ranger (MGS Architects), Luis Ricardo (LLLab), Sebastian Irarrazaval (Architect).                                          

The top three winners were awarded total prize money of $4,000 while ten entries received Honorable Mentions. Here are the winning entries. The full result for the competition Tiny Library 2023 Architecture Competition can be found at volumezerocompetitions.com.

FIRST PLACE

The Ship of Knowledge
BOURGEOIS LECHASSEUR ARCHITECTES | Canada

SECOND PLACE

Reclaiming Progress
Ravisha Rathore and Devesh Uniyal | India

THIRD PLACE

The Seventh Generation Library
Roberta Vasnic and Ian Sanders | United Kingdom

Honourable Mentions: