Copenhagen

Subterms

    More stories

    • 125 Shares129 Views

      in Rooms

      Copenhagen Architecture Festival exhibition responds to “ridiculous” big-budget building projects

      by

      An exhibition in Copenhagen showcases work by students who were instructed to develop projects for extreme environments in order to come up with original design solutions not influenced by “castle in the sky” builds and architecture blogs.

      Named New Methods for Big Challenges: Architecture and Extreme Environments, the exhibition was commissioned for this year’s ongoing Copenhagen Architecture Festival (CAFx).
      It was curated by David Garcia, founder of local studio MAP Architects and an associate professor at the Royal Danish Academy’s architecture and technology institute, where he teaches a masters course titled Architecture and Extreme Environments.
      The exhibition is being held at Halmtorvet 27 in Copenhagen’s Meatpacking DistrictThe exhibition showcases the result of students’ work on the programme, which sees them live and work for weeks in harsh locations such as Alaska and the Gobi Desert.
      There they must seek to build and test design prototypes that benefit the communities living in these challenging environments by harnessing the resources available and collaborating with local people.

      Garcia said the aim of the course, as well as responding to climate change, is to give the students no choice but to produce original architecture – without the temptation to copy what they see online.
      “I wanted to make my students start in a very difficult place where there is no precedent, pushing them to an extreme context so they have to think anew,” he told Dezeen.
      “It’s partly based on the idea that it’s hard for students to separate themselves from the images they see on the architecture blogs. These websites have an enormous impact on students, who crave inspiration, but it can be overwhelming as there is so much readily available.”
      Garcia said the idea for the masters course was based on his time making “ridiculous” projects at a large British architecture firmHe added that his own experience working on big-budget projects for rich clients while at major British architecture firm Foster + Partners was behind the conception of the course.
      “I spent many years designing castles in the sky and that was pivotal in coming up with this programme,” he said.
      “I realised that from a resource perspective, and from the point of view of solving the world’s problems it was ridiculous. I’m extremely critical of those types of projects despite having worked on them myself in the past.”

      Boudewijn Buitenhek builds solar coffee-making tools for life without mains power

      The exhibition starts with blown-up versions of pamphlets produced by MAP Architects exploring concepts for architecture in places like Antarctica, Chernobyl, or the Earth’s orbit.
      For instance, one pamphlet suggests that Antarctica’s constant extreme cold be used to cool seeds in a World Seed Bank, as an alternative to the centre in the Arctic’s Svalbard where air conditioning is sometimes required due to temperature fluctuation.
      Among the projects featured in the main exhibition is a desalination device produced by a student placed with an Inuit community in the Bering Strait, where only saltwater is readily accessible.
      Projects were developed in locations like Alaska, the Gobi Desert and the Atacama DesertThe student’s research uncovered that thawing saltwater ice initially produces drinkable water, as this melts faster than saline.
      Via a series of tubes and chambers, the device takes a block of saltwater ice and transforms it into a glass of fresh water overnight that can be drunk in the morning.
      Meanwhile, the orange Inxect suit by Pavel Liepins aims to tackle issues of plastic pollution and food security in the Faroe Islands.
      It channels body heat and humidity generated by movement into an attached habitat for plastic-eating mealworms, which are non-toxic to humans and rich in protein.
      Students were encouraged to think originally about ways they could respond to the challenges of harsh environmentsSome exhibits play with materials, such as an insulation product made out of pine needles by a student placed in Alaska and a method for creating bricks from sand by a student sent to China’s Gobi Desert by Gabriele Jerosine.
      Not all the projects worked successfully, including a device intended to wrap around the stilts of houses in flood-prone Manaus, Brazil, to produce tidal energy, which proved to be overcomplicated and too fragile to function.
      “Personally I don’t care whether their experiments work or not, and I don’t have a specific aesthetic that I look for; that’s not as relevant to me, I’d like the students to explore their own aesthetics,” explained Garcia.

      Dezeen and The Mindcraft Project showcase experimental work by Danish designers

      “What I care about is that the students are working with the goal of improving the environment in mind, and doing so in a way that is unique to them,” he added.
      Garcia’s own work also features, in the form of a passive heating tent developed for the Atacama Desert in Chile where temperatures get very high during the day but drop dramatically at night.
      The tent uses a self-activating piston to expose a stick of soapstone, an efficient thermal accumulation material, to the sun to be heated during the day before being withdrawn into the tent at night where it gradually radiates heat to provide warmth.
      The exhibition runs until 20 NovemberSome projects produced by students on the course – which has an intake of between 20 and 25 each year – have worked so well that they have been left for use by the community.
      One such example is a project that used urine’s electrolyte properties to power a toilet light in rural Zanzibar, to enable women to feel safe using it at night.
      New Methods for Big Challenges: Architecture and Extreme Environments is being held in CAFx’s space at Halmtorvet 27 in Copenhagen’s Meatpacking District and runs until 20 November.
      Copenhagen Architecture Festival is running a series of events across Copenhagen and Aarhus, mainly between 6 and 16 October 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      The photography is by Francesco Martello.

      Read more: More

    • 175 Shares189 Views

      in Rooms

      OEO Studio uses materials in a “playful way” for Designmuseum Denmark cafe and shop

      by

      Copenhagen-based OEO Studio has created a cafe and shop interior for Denmark’s Designmuseum using stone, steel and wood to honour architect Kaare Klint’s original design.

      OEO Studio worked with materials and colours that reference Klint’s design from the 1920s and added details such as custom-built cabinets to the shop and a “monolithic” steel serving counter to the cafe.
      OEO Studio created the interiors for the Designmuseum cafe, above, and museum shop, top imageThe interior design was part of a major two-year renovation of the Designmuseum, which showcases Danish design. It is located in a building from the 18th century that was renovated and adapted into a museum by Klint and architect Ivar Bentsen.
      While OEO Studio didn’t make any structural changes, the studio added some major interventions to the museum’s interior.
      Stone and wood were used throughout the interior”The large arched doors inside the museum have undergone a drastic change and have been covered in hot-rolled steel, present in the entrance way and in the museum cafe,” OEO Studio head of design and founding partner Thomas Lykke told Dezeen.

      “A huge monolithic serving counter made of steel and wood is the primary fixed piece in the cafe,” he added. “As for the museum shop, the major changes are custom-built cabinets filling out the arches in the walls.”
      A hot-rolled steel counter creates a monolithic effect in the cafeLykke and Anne-Marie Buemann, OEO Studio managing partner, designed the 240-square-metre cafe and lounge space and the 140 square-metre museum shop to be based on Klint’s simple, “ascetic” design.
      “We were inspired by Klint and his almost ascetic touch on design with his clean lines – subtle yet majestic at the same time,” Lykke explained.
      Kaare Klint paper lamps hang in the cafeAs well as the six-metre-long bespoke counter, made from oiled oak and hot-rolled steel, the studio also designed custom cafe tables, high tables and counter-style seating for the museum’s all-day eatery.
      The cafe also features a selection of chairs by well-known Danish architects and designers, such as Hans J Wegner and Arne Jacobsen, with the mostly wood and steel furniture contrasting against a grey stone floor made from original tiles that were reused.

      Frank Maali and Gemma Lalanda transform 1950s garage into steel-clad event space with a “sacral feeling”

      “We defined a material palette that complimented the building and the architecture,” Lykke said of the studio’s design.
      “Materials were also chosen for their durability and their ability to age beautifully,” he added.
      “A mix of hard materials, as well as more soft and warmer materials, were used, including steel, wood, leather, stone, and textiles. The materials have been used in a playful way – still not over-shining the architecture. ”
      The Designmuseum cafe can be accessed from the gardenIn the museum shop, OEO Studio reused glass cabinetry designed by Klint and added custom-built cabinets.
      Small islands display books and other museum items for sale, while the built-in wall cabinets showcase sculptures and other accessories.
      In both the cafe and the shop, OEO Studio used a colour palette designed to compliment the building itself.
      The Designmuseum shop features built-in cabinets”For the colour scheme our intention was to create a palette that naturally blended well with the original building and the materials used,” Lykke explained.
      “The stone tiles on the floor have a major presence in the museum – beautiful and rich,” he added.
      “The use of hot-rolled steel with its bluish tones creates a beautiful contrast to the tiles and the old plastered walls with their original colour. The special blue-grey paint was carefully created to complement the architecture and floors.”
      A pale-blue, beige and blue-grey colour palette contrasts against wooden furnitureThe studio also created a 35-metre boardroom for the Designmuseum, which can accommodate up to 10 people and features furniture that the studio designed for Stellar Works.
      All of the furniture was built by Danish makers from materials sourced locally.
      “Materials of high durability, quality and a design that allows for hard use over many years were important factors,” Lykke said.
      OEO Studio reused glass cabinets designed by KlintThe Designmuseum reopened during the annual Danish design festival 3 Days of Design, when it also unveiled a translucent pavilion designed by Henning Larsen in the garden outside of the museum.
      Homeware brand Vipp also showcased new architecture during the festival, with a renovation of a former garage.
      The photography is by Christian Hoyer.

      Read more: More

    • 125 Shares179 Views

      in Rooms

      Vipp sets up one-room hotel inside ex-pencil factory in Copenhagen

      by

      A factory that once made Denmark’s classic Viking school pencils now contains a one-room hotel conceived by homeware brand Vipp.

      The 90-square-metre hotel – which is aptly called Vipp Pencil Case – is situated on the factory’s ground floor and accessed via a sun-dappled courtyard.
      The hotel room is arranged around an open living and dining areaThis is one of six hospitality spaces that Vipp has established for design-conscious travellers – others include Vipp Shelter, a pre-fab cabin nestled along the shores of Lake Immeln in Sweden, and Vipp Farmhouse, an 18th-century dwelling located in a rural pocket of Denmark’s Lolland island.
      The interiors of Vipp Pencil Case is the work of Danish designer Julie Cloos Mølsgaard, who spent a year curating a neutral yet warm space that she felt sat comfortably within the industrial setting.
      Guests can gather around a large oak and stone dining tableAt the heart of the hotel room is a light-filled living and dining area. To one side lies a powder-grey edition of Vipp’s V1 kitchen suite, where guests are invited to rustle up their own meals.

      To the other side of the space is a large oak dining table with a Jura stone countertop, and a number of storage cabinets that hold extra crockery and cookware.
      The bedroom lies behind sliding doorsWoven baskets, ceramic vases and contemporary artworks have been dotted throughout as decoration.
      “Vipp Pencil Case is not your average hotel room – more like a studio or atelier, it elicits an artistic ambience and holds a rare quietude in the heart of the Danish capital”, explained Mølsgaard.
      Paintings on the walls give the hotel an artsy studio feelA set of tall sliding doors can be pushed back to reveal the bedroom, which has been dressed with a couple of marble-topped side tables and a plump white seating pouf.
      Light streaming through the building’s expansive crittal-style windows is dampened by floor-to-ceiling Kvadrat curtains.

      Vipp converts former pencil factory in Copenhagen into supper club venue

      The wooden floorboards that feature here and throughout the rest of the hotel room are meant to nod to the materiality of Viking pencils, and the fact that the building also once served as a showroom for wooden flooring brand Dinesen.
      The room also includes a sleek shower room that’s been almost entirely clad with jet-black tiles.
      A bathroom is clad in jet-black tilesViking’s former factory is located across the water from central Copenhagen on Island Brygge. This is not Vipp’s first intervention on site – late last year, the brand transformed another part of the factory into a supper club where chefs from around the world can host intimate dining experiences.
      Its interiors were also designed by Mølsgaard, who filled the space with wooden furnishings and tactile rugs and cushions.
      The photography is by Rasmus Hjortshøj.

      Read more: More