Max Dudler

From 20 October 2023 to 4 February 2024, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek and Max Dudler present the exhibition "Max Dudler – Building for books" in the grand staircase and the Fürstensaal. Showcasing architecture models, plans and competition concepts, the exhibition approaches the work of the architect Max Dudler in the field of library construction from various angles. Photographs, films and listening stations make a visit to the exhibition a multimedia experience. Books need public accessibility, which is why they need libraries.

Particularly since reading is such a self-sufficient activity, says Max Dudler, libraries must be places of exchange and community in the age of the Internet. Their rooms do not only serve for the classic acts of intellectual work – reading and writing –, but also for communication, encounters and discovering while taking a leisurely stroll. In Max Dudler's libraries there are consequently silent rooms of concentrated work, but also places of hospitality.

Among other things, Max Dudler is known for library buildings as diverse as the Jacob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Zentrum – the large central library of the Humboldt University in Berlin – or the City Library of Heidenheim.

His latest library project is the current restructuring and up-to-date enlargement of the historical library building of the State and City Library of Augsburg, which is directly subordinated to the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek as one of the ten regional State Libraries of Bavaria.

The selection of 26 library plans presented in the exhibition on long desks along the stairwell balustrade shows the result of the architect's over 20 years of involvement with the topic, which began in 1996 with the design for the new state library in Dresden. The architect's work is presented in two listening stations. He himself talks about his early, formative experiences in the St. Gallen Abbey Library and the importance of libraries for him. Users have their say and there are explanations about the state and city library in Augsburg, which is currently under construction. Films projected on three screens invite you to take a virtual walk through the Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm Center in Berlin, the city library in Heidenheim and the Folkwang Library in Essen. Three well-known photographers, Barbara Klemm, Xandra M. Linsin and Zara Pfeiffer, show their very personal view of Max Dudler's libraries. Their pictures are printed on 21 textile banners hanging in the window niches in the library's stairwell. In the Fürstensaal, the libraries built are shown in architectural photos by Stefan Müller, as well as architectural models, plans and publications about Max Dudler's work.