Mediateka Tychy wayfinding system

Mediateka in Tychy is a library of the 21st century – the new building uses the most modern solutions in the field. There is a 24-hour “bookshop” and a stand-alone borrowing stand, a new department — a multimedia reading room with many online stations, as well as a meeting room, and playground for children. An area of more than 2,744 m² houses the Main Library of the Municipal Public Library in Tychy, and a concert hall. The remaining part of Mediateka is occupied by private investors.

All three zones (libraries, concert hall and private areas) are connected by the common part, i.e. the hall and technical rooms. This is the place where cloakrooms, public toilets, children’s changing rooms and bicycle racks are located. And what is very characteristic – glass surfaces occupy nearly 4,500m²!

Our role was to give this space a unique mood – be friendly and understandable for people of all ages. We were also tied to a small budget, so we had to base on popular production materials. And last but not least, we had to pay attention to safety – glass walls can be very dangerous if you collide with them – so our environmental graphics mark nearly all of them with irregular linear patterns.

As a result line & geometry was a main inspiration for a whole system – it appears in pictograms (which are more like an illustration) & huge room numerals. Even the typeface fullfill the geometrical, minimalistic look of the system.