The Media Lounge at the ZKM

A place for exchange, inspiration and discovery
The Media Lounge at the ZKM Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe is an inviting 'third place' – a public space that is neither home nor workplace. You can relax here without obligation, read, study, have discussions or immerse yourself in ZKM's extensive video and audio collection. There are more than 1,500 video works and around 9,000 audio titles available to experience directly on site, including those from the International Digital Electroacoustic Music Archive (IDEAMA). Further works from the archives are also available.

Builder: ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medien
Occupant: ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medien
Planning: feco
Completion: 2019
City: Karlsruhe
Sector: Education
Office furniture: Acoustic, Agile work, Lighting, Lounge, Multimedia furniture, Storage elements, Workplaces
Photos: Nikolay Kazakov
Brands: Vitra, Artek

From a co-working space in an exhibition to a permanent fixture
The MediaLounge’s furnishings have a special history: they come from the ZKM exhibition co-working space, ‘Open Codes: The World as a Field of Data’. This space was not only a working environment, but also a deliberately designed source of inspiration for new perspectives. In line with the co-working trend that emerged in the 2010s, it offered a place where people could work together, rather than just alongside each other, outside their usual environment and beyond their day-to-day business. The open, flexible Virta furniture promoted creative processes, pushed hierarchies into the background, and opened up space for new ideas.

Spaces that change perspectives
The continued use of furniture from ‘Open Codes’, feco’s original coworking concept, has seen it evolve and improve over time. In the MediaLounge, Vitra’s durable furniture creates an inspiring atmosphere that emphasises the character of the ‘third place’. Visitors can move around freely, discover content, and gain new perspectives by interacting with others, in keeping with an open, networked culture of knowledge.