© City of Aachen / Jane Kaimer
Aachen is a curious and lively city. There is a lot of research, debate and discussion here. The future is invented and shaped here - in outstanding institutions that develop and pass on specialized knowledge. But where can people in Aachen find uncomplicated access to education? Where is the open place where all Aacheners are welcome as a meeting place to live democracy and shape a sustainable society together?
© kadawittfeldarchitektur
A meeting place for all people
Following a decision by Aachen City Council, the "House of Curiosity" will be built by 2029 in a department store between the bus station and the old town that has been empty for many years. A building that is open to all people in the city who want to be inspired, discuss and discover new things, seek peace and quiet or are looking for a meeting place. Since March 2025, the adult education center and city library have been planning how their services can be optimally combined, supplemented and expanded as future joint users of the building.
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The path of curiosity
The core architectural idea of the house is the "path of curiosity". It invites visitors to explore all levels of the building via spacious staircases. And it links all the facilities together via the central and bright atrium, from the cozy seating areas on the first floor to the rooftop café on the fourth floor. The forum staircase on the second floor is particularly inviting for sitting, browsing and lingering.
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Central, open, inviting
They have always changed in line with people's needs. Now the adult education center and the city library can continue to develop together. And redefine their role in Aachen's urban society together. If they come together with their different services in a shared, open and architecturally interesting address, 1 and 1 will not become 2, but much more, something completely new, a shared building for all Aacheners: a house of curiosity!
Above all, bright eyes and happy encounters - because these two ingredients are crucial for creating community and ensuring that education is acquired easily and sustainably. But it also provides attractive and inviting spaces with a diverse range of activities jointly designed by the adult education center and the city library: analog and digital media, games and IT, cooking, music and exercise, political debates and cultural experiences, exhibitions and films in a shared space with a high level of appeal enrich everyday life, invite people to help shape the building and participate in society.
Multifunctional and contemporary rooms are also available to the independent scene, associations and initiatives, including an event area with seating for either one hundred or four hundred people. Everyone is welcome, there is something to discover everywhere, there is always something going on. Change has been considered from the outset, with users constantly redefining the content.
Debates, rooftop café and much more
On entering the building, visitors find themselves in a spacious foyer with an information desk, book return, café and a flexibly adaptable event area. A stepped gallery in the foyer offers seating and exhibition space; the architects call this area the "coastline". A further area is intended to be rented out to retailers.
Quiet, semi-quiet and communicative activities are planned for the second floor. There is a music and creative room, a retreat zone, exercise facilities and a play area for children and parents with a pool table, games console and board games, as well as the city library's well-known Youth Factory. The second floor operates as a living and discussion area, where debates can be held, but also gymnastics or cooking classes are possible. The third invites you to work quietly and offers seminar rooms. A café with a view of the cathedral and town hall is just as much a part of the building's concept as an art library and a reading terrace, all of which can be found on the leafy fourth floor.
And where is the entrance? There will be three entrances, on Komphausbadstraße, Bädersteig, Büchel and also via the bicycle parking garage on Mefferdatisstraße, from where you can get directly to the second floor. Space for 250 bicycles is planned in the former Lust for Life delivery area. Not to be forgotten: The architects are proposing cross-storey climbing aids for ground-level greenery along sightlines to the entrances of the building, which cannot yet be seen in the views so far.
© kadawittfeldarchitektur
Good role models in Germany and Europe
In the library landscape in particular, outstanding and innovative buildings with enormous appeal have emerged in recent years. Libraries that play a decisive role in urban development, that create space for people to stay and meet, that bring people together in MakerSpaces and open events.
Some are created from existing office buildings (muntpunt Brussels) or from industrial halls (LocHal Tilburg), others are newly built (Kulturforum Hanau) and still others develop into the future from existing library buildings (Cologne City Library).
Adult education centers are also getting new, modern buildings, for example in Dortmund and Bochum. From time to time, adult education centers and libraries move into a building together, but then, as in Bonn and Nuremberg, the facilities usually stand next to each other. As initial examples have shown, consistent merging brings added value for everyone.
The Horten House in the city center
In the course of a feasibility study, the city of Aachen intensively examined possible locations for the Haus der Neugier from a programmatic, economic and structural perspective. The Haus Horten option emerged as the favorite from this study.
Above all, feasibility and sustainability speak in favor of this location, where the "Lust for Life" department store was located until 2017. Realizing the Haus der Neugier project in this building will also drive forward the development and revitalization of the surrounding area.
Good to know: The parts of the VHS located in the Bushof will have to leave the building in the foreseeable future for a partial refurbishment or a general overhaul. When the VHS moves into the Haus der Neugier, apartments can be built at the Bushof site.
The heart of Aachen's educational programs
The House of Curiosity has an additional significance as a communal contribution to educational equality. In the House of Curiosity, digital learning in particular should be accessible to everyone - regardless of social or ethnic background. In this way, it makes an important contribution to the "fair distribution" of the "future resource of knowledge". With its low-threshold advisory and service offerings, the Haus der Neugier is the heart of Aachen's educational offerings, its institutions and partners.
Info event April 3, 2025
A start full of optimism and lively discussions. The planners are euphoric and optimistic, the guests in the auditorium listen breathlessly and ultimately take part in a lively discussion. The emerging House of Curiosity has really aroused them - curiosity and hope.
