Tiny Library 2025 competition winners envision educational spaces on a small footprint

The latest edition of the Tiny Library Architecture Competition has published its winning entries, with participants from 45 countries tasked with designing a tiny library for 50 users.

Organized by Volume Zero, the competition brief tasked participants to “rethink and re-imagine the idea of the Library as a 21st-century self-learning and educational incubation space that not only sheds light on conventional means of knowledge but also encourages its users to interact, share ideas, and grow together.” The structure was not to exceed 300 square meters of built area.

Below, we have detailed the winning schemes for the 2025 edition. You can compare the latest winners with those of previous years by reviewing our ongoing coverage of the competition here.

FIRST PLACE: Crossword by K Shashavindu (India)

Project excerpt: Agoda, a remote village in India, where geography shapes daily life. Residents must traverse vast river valleys on foot to access essential services. For young children, this journey especially to school - becomes a daily burden. This design reimagines the bridge not just as a connector of places, but as a catalyst for change. Bridges connect communities and are integral to our social fabric, but they can do more. By embedding a library within the bridge itself, the design merges movement with learning. Creating a dual-purpose structure that serves both physical and intellectual needs. Bridge construction is often costly and disruptive to communities and the environment, so this proposal seeks to maximize public investment and expand social value. 

SECOND PLACE: Bivacco Library by Jinyue Hu & Xiang Li (United Kingdom)

Project excerpt: As technologies and modes of reading continue to evolve, our access to distant knowledges grows increasingly seamless. Yet, questions remain: How is a library grounded in immediacy and local specificity? Can shared reading experience strengthen not only the connections between individuals and knowledges, but also the ties among people and places? This project investigates the essential role of a minimal library for diverse reading communities embedded in a rural context of the Italian Alps. It proposes the design of a “bivacco library”, a hybrid of two archetypes-reading space and dwelling-deeply rooted in the cultural and natural heritage of the Alps. 

THIRD PLACE: Barcoteca by Lucas Karmann & Jean Pfrunner (Brazil)

Project excerpt: Barcoteca is a new word, blending barco (boat) and biblioteca (library), to represent a mobile, water-borne cultural infrastructure. The Rio Negro basin, nestled in the heart of the Amazon rain forest, is a vast and isolated territory where mobility is limited and access is possible only by boat. Indigenous, riverine, and Quilombola communities rely entirely on the river for transport, communication, and survival. In this region, the State of Amazonas has only 19 public libraries, an average of one for every 170,000 people, leaving most inhabitants without access to books or educational resources. This project proposes a modular floating library that combines vernacular building knowledge with contemporary parametric design tools. 

STUDENT AWARD: Amoxcalli by Carlos Francisco Nava Martinez (Mexico)

Project excerpt: This project envisions a 300-square-meter library in Malinalco, a small town nestled in the heart of Mexico. Renowned for its Aztec temple ruins-once a sacred space for the preparationof warriors before the Conquest—Malinalco breathes history and ritual. The town later grew around the San Salvador Augustinian Convent, layering colonial heritage over ancient memory. Over time, these rich narratives have shaped an economy centred on tourism, drawing visitors from afar. Yet, behind this cultural tapestry lies a quiet need: the local population remains underserved, particularly in access to educational infrastructure. This library seeks to redress that imbalance-to create a space not just for book, but belonging, learning, and the weaving of new knowledge into the fabric of a storied place.

Honorable Mention 1: Sky Within Walls by Gregor Hufnagl & Jovana Milojevic (Austria)

Honorable Mention 2: Finding in Self - Confirmation by Feng Yibo, Liu Qian & Zhang Yitian (China)

Honorable Mention 3: Wisdom flow by Milana Yanbukhtina & Elena Lvova (Russia)

Honorable Mention 4: Shelter Library by Park Garam & Choi Yeonsoo (Korea South)

Honorable Mention 5: Connecting Generations, Through Time by Song Jieun & Yun Seobin (Korea South)

Honorable Mention 6: Tibet Sand Mandala by Wang Lan & Li Yujie (China)

Honorable Mention 7: Shelter of Light by Vengseng Chiv & Dany Rith (Cambodia)

Honorable Mention 8: Canyon Codex by Darshan Dilipkumar, Shubham Negi & Priyanka Kalita (India)

Honorable Mention 9: The Learning Kiln by Aditya Sharma, Siddhant Bhatasana & Abhidev Thankappan (India)

Honorable Mention 10: Canopy of Commons by Ananya P Nayak & Tasneem Vali (India)