There is a very long tradition to share books in public space. 1993 the American artists Michael Clegg and Martin Guttmann had the extraordinary idea to create a sculpture out of an old switching unit as a shelf for books in Mainz, Germany.
People of the neighborhood used this new shelf to share their books. The artists observed the books to make a conclusion of the social structure environment.
2003 the interior designer Trixy Royeck created a new concept for the art project and she created a piece of permanent furniture for the public space which she gave as a present to the city of Bonn. They built the first book box at the Poppelsdorfer Allee in Bonn.
Some improvements were needed so Hans-Jürgen Greve, architect and engineer for urban planning, took over the idea and created his complete new design of the public book box. The demands for an item of furniture for the public space are very hight and with his experience and knowledge, he was able to create a design that is safe, sustainable, vandalism free, long-living and nearly maintenance-free. This unique design of the 4 different models is so convincing that already 500 BOKXes are delivered all over Germany and Switzerland.
The system “public book box” has a very special meaning for the communal environment. Every book box creates communication, strengthen the neighborhood and creates a lot of voluntary work. The public book box creates a new “third places” in the close environment.