Youth Hostel Munich

GRAFT’s winning concept highlights the idea of “Experiencing Community” in which modern architecture plays a central role in enabling exchange and communication while simultaneously remaining true to the principles of travelling simply, youthful curiosity and the thirst for encounters. In the interior, in particular, the design pairs the local iconography of wooden buildings with innovative design. In the context of changing habits and practices, the new youth hostel builds a bridge between origins and departure.

The design proposes relocating the main entrance of the new youth hostel to face “Winthirplatz”. A new building closes off the perimeter block, its calm, regular façade respecting the characteristics of the district. In its face, however, a two-story amorphous lobby has been carved, creating a dramatic entrance space that simultaneously announces the building to its surroundings.

For today’s young people, community also takes place increasingly in virtual spaces. The lobby is therefore not only a physical communal space but also a virtual “cloud” in which interactions between guests are augmented by simple devices – a graphics “black board”, QR codes, mini screens and map projections, as well as Facebook and Twitter.

The complex is large enough to host numerous visitors at the same time and symbolises the basic idea of “Experiencing Community”: the design intentionally combines the functions of the lobby, dining room and seminar spaces into a joint interior space.