ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN YEARBOOK 2008
www.aod.aau.dk
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN YEARBOOK
2008
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN YEARBOOK
2008
Contents
3
Foreword
4
Utzon’s legacy continues in Aalborg
8
Projects
53
Architecture & design © Idea and design Feature article Photography Prepress Print Cover photo
Name index
Yearbook 2008 Architecture & Design, Aalborg University Nicolai Steinø Tor Bagger Elmegaard Sune Petersen, galakse.dk Irene Schwarz Poulsen, imaginum.dk AK print, Aalborg, 2008 Utzon Centre
Foreword
This year, the architecture and design programme at Aalborg University is entering its 12th season. It is no longer a child, in other words, but is slowly entering adolescence. This is a troublesome age. One the one hand, possible mishaps can no longer be excused by childishness, yet on the other, it still lacks the experience of adulthood. But it is also a formative age in which a lasting identity is likely to emerge. In the first years of its existence, the programme has spent a lot of time playing and experimenting, wondering about the world, stumbling, scratching the knees, and get ting back on the feet. And it has grown a lot. From some 30 students entering the programme when it opened in 1997, it is now climbing towards 600 students, including the 150 new students, which are likely to enter the basic studies (1st year) in the fall. The programme now offers 2 degrees and 4 specialisa tions. While the early semesters of the BA programme offer a general training in design, the students may slowly form their particular interests, in either architecture, industrial design, digital design, or urban design, which are studied separately
in the 6th semester. The MA programme offers fully specia lised studies within one of the four fields. Tweenagers as we are, we would like to show the world who we are and what we do. So in this yearbook – the first of its kind from our programme – you can read about some of the things that currently occupy us the most. Therefore, the main section offers a display of the thesis projects, which have been submitted in the MA programme this year. But before that, we would like to offer a sneak preview in to what will hopefully constitute an important element of our adult existence – the Utzon Centre. After many years of pre paration, this centre for the research, education, and disse mination of architecture and design is now a reality of which we have high expectations. While this yearbook shows what the architecture and design programme at Aalborg University is capable of at present, we are very much aware that we would never have reached this ca pacity on our own. The yearbook is therefore also a tribute to all the people across the world who, in some way or another, have supported us, and helped us grow up to become what we are. Enjoy!
Nicolai Steinø Head of Programme June 2008
Utzon’s legacy continues in Aalborg
One of the 20th century’s most intriguing architects, Jørn Utzon, has designed a centre that will carry on his own archi tectural legacy and ideas. The new Utzon Centre in Aalborg will provide the basis for the exchange of knowledge and in spiration for future architects and designers internationally. The initiator of the Utzon Centre is Adrian Carter, who has al so been involved in establishing the architecture and design programme at Aalborg University. Carter does not hesitate to admit his fascination of Utzon’s work. Effortlessly, he draws a line through his interest in mo dern Nordic architecture, in order to position Utzon in his ar chitectural world view. In recent years, however, Utzon and his accomplishments have become more than just a fascina tion to Adrian Carter – indeed it has materialised as a central theme in Carter’s life and work. – For me there is a natural progression over an interest in modern Nordic architecture – going back to Gunnar Asplund – and a deep fascination with Alvar Aalto, a humanistic, ho nest approach to construction, a kind of critical regionalism, a sense of modest, yet monumental public buildings, and an interest in housing. And that continuity from Asplund to Aalto naturally leads to Utzon, who developed his ideas from theirs and who has, in some ways, taken them much further, Adrian Carter explains. Adrian Carter is an associate profes sor at the Department of Architecture & Design at Aalborg University and is now the director of the newly established Utzon Centre in Aalborg, the city, where Jørn Utzon grew up and lived for the first 20 years of his life. As the name implies, Adrian Carter is from England and in the early 1980’s, his interest in Nordic architecture brought him to Finland and, later on, to Denmark. This is also where he fostered the idea of the Utzon Centre, which has now car ried fruit by the official opening of the centre in May 2008. In
many ways, the Utzon Center provides a link between expe rience, knowledge and innovation, and from the beginning, one of Carter’s thoughts has been to stimulate the interplay and knowledge sharing between art, culture, architecture and enterprise, enabling innovative industrial design and architecture. On this basis, the Utzon Centre is conceived as a dyna mic and experimental knowledge centre, comprising an ar chive of Utzon’s original architectural drawings, one of the characteristic “spidsgatter” yachts designed by his father, as well as a workshop, and conference and exhibition facili ties. Thus, while being a tribute to the oeuvre of Jørn Utzon, the Utzon Centre is also meant to be a forum for the deve lopment of innovative, creative and humane thinking, for re search, discussions, and the realisation of ideas in architec ture and design. The ambition of the Utzon Centre is to reach the general visitor as well as students and researchers from across the world who share a common interest in the Nordic approach to architecture, design and art. – The Utzon Centre was conceived as a centre for the dis semination of architecture and design and a way to create an identity for the architecture and design programme, to offer new facilities, and to achieve international recognition. I al ways thought of Utzon as a role model for the students in our programme, says Adrian Carter. Pioneer work between Engineers and Architects One of the explanations why there is an obvious link be tween Jørn Utzon’s approach to architecture and the stu dents at Aalborg University is that the architecture and de sign programme is an engineering programme, as opposed to the Danish architecture schools, which are rooted in the Beaux-Arts tradition. Utzon’s most famous building, the
Sydney Opera House, for instance, was not just an artistic masterpiece, but also a pioneer project in terms of collabo ration between architects and engineers. This collaboration was determinant for the final results, not only architecturally but also in terms of new building techniques, process ma nagement, and so on. The Utzon Centre is inspired by the Aalto Foundation in Finland, which was established more than 25 years ago, and which, over the years, has gained more and more respon sibility for the dissemination of architecture in Finland. The foundation organises conferences and education for school children, it hosts a highly recognised architecture prize and is responsible for the renovation of many of Aalto’s buildings. In this way, the Aalto Foundation has become a gathering point for architects in Finland, and is very active in the deve lopment of Finnish architecture as well in attracting acknow ledged foreign architects to Finland. In a Danish context, that is also the idea of the Utzon Centre. Hence, the professional ambition and intentions have been very clear since the early stages of planning the centre. – The important thing is that there is a sort of integri ty to the centre in the form of Utzon’s work. The ambition is to gather Utzon’s archive material together, scan it and make it digitally available for academics and architects, and to actively use it to make virtual and physical models of Utzon’s many unrealised works, many of which are of quite some significance, such as the underground muse um in Silkeborg, says Adrian Carter. He believes that only through visualising them, can they be made accessible and understood by a wider audience, and inspire future archi tects. Or perhaps some of them might even be realised in the future, spurred by the renewed interest that the centre might hopefully invoke.
Nordic Characteristics Apart from providing possibilities for research, the collection of Utzon’s drawings in the archive will also make it possible to provide an overview of Utzon’s oeuvre. Certain themes in Utzon’s works; his style, methodology and approach to ar chitecture and design, are as appropriate today as when he was practicing. The Utzon Centre aims to achieve a kind of continuity in that approach. By trying to understand the qua lity in Utzon’s and other Nordic architects’ works, it is pos sible to actively re-establish some of the principles that has made Nordic architecture so significant internationally, says Carter: – There are certain principles of honesty of material and construction, and social concerns in Utzon’s works. The idea of context being the generator of form rather than designing something – as in the international style – that could be built anywhere. In that sense, Utzon’s works are quite sustainable and culturally appropriate to where they are built, and they create a sense of identity. At the same time they have cer tain Nordic characteristics in their concern for light, the ex pression of the construction and its relationship to landscape, Adrian Carter points out. New Possibilities for Students To the director of the centre, which was inaugurated on May 29th, it is crucial that the many students at Aalborg University’s architecture and design programme will have a unique opportunity to acquaint themselves with the great Danish architect. Hence, in the works of Utzon lies a very much contemporary source of inspiration, which should be made available to future designers. – You may say that Utzon’s time has not come until now. His opera house was ahead of its time, and his approach
to architecture wasn’t really understood by the modernists. The opera house project, for instance, was the first major buil ding project to make use of computer technology. It used the Pegasus super computers of Southampton University, trying to develop the forms of the concert and opera halls, Adrian Carter explains. – In that sense it was a pioneer project, and it is only now that we have the computer technology at a level where it is possible to easily calculate the complex forms and geo metries that proved so challenging when Utzon was working with them. Therefore to younger generations, he represents a source of inspiration, says Carter. – The Danish architectural and industrial design tradi tion is based on handicraft originally. Utzon learned his skills through boatbuilding, from his father who was an engineer and boat designer. The Utzon Centre could provide the op portunity for coming generations to work physically with de sign and test their ideas in real terms, where they get an idea of the detailing and the material qualities of what they are de signing as a complement to working with virtual models. So it is not a matter of either-or, but it is intended to be a synergy between conventional and digital techniques, Adrian Carter explains. The facilities in the Utzon Centre, which will be made avail able to the students at Aalborg University, count a 300 sqm. workshop, an architecture and design library, and a breath taking auditorium with a view to the Limfjord and the har bours of Aalborg and Nørresundby, which currently experi ence a rapid transformation. – Hopefully the new facilities, which will be made avail able to the programme through the completion of the Utzon Centre, will make a good addition to the ones that we already have. Ideally it will provide a forum and a focus for our edu
cation – a flagship. I would like to think that it would provide a means of attracting some of the best students from Denmark and abroad to come and study in Aalborg, and also to attract some of the world’s leading architects to teach and lecture. The very existence of the Utzon Centre might give an extra incentive to come to Aalborg, as they might have an interest in this thing, says Adrian Carter. A Centre by Utzon The centre itself is located with a view to the water on Aalborg’s new harbour front, which is slowly emerging. The building is raised on a platform, which offers a slightly ele vated view of the water. The different building volumes are organised around an enclosed courtyard, which provides an inviting outdoor space, sheltered from the prevailing westerly winds. The different parts of the building complex have diffe rently shaped roofs, defined by the spatial qualities of the in ner spaces. While the auditorium, the “spidsgatter” hall, and the library all have high ceilings resulting in highly sculptural roofs, the exhibition and workshop spaces in between have lower roofs akin to industrial saw-tooth roofs. The architectural concept, which is developed by Utzon himself and realised by the architecture office of Kim Utzon, his son, is based on a prototype school building. In Herning, Denmark, where it was first built, there is a small example of it, which is now a private house, says Adrian Carter, who conceived the idea of Utzon Centre and took part in all the phases of its planning. – The centre also incorporates other typical features of Utzon’s work. The idea of the raised platform, the idea of the courtyard, the framing of the views to the surrounding land scape. So there are certain features in the Utzon Centre that relate to his approach, particularly the very pragmatic ap
proach to some of the more standardised functions. There is a kind of modularity of the exhibition hall and workshop where the spaces are built up of modular, prefabricated ele ments, which is very typical of Utzon’s additive architecture approach, Carter points out. The most prominent part of the building complex is the au ditorium, which faces the Limfjord. The “Spidsgatter” hall, which provides a link to Utzon’s family background in boat building, also faces the Limfjord – soon to be lined by a har bour promenade – and connects to the workshop. – Certain spaces, the auditorium, the library and the “Spidsgatter” hall, are designed according to specific needs, like the dimensions of the boat in the “Spidsgatter” hall, and the quality of the light and the acoustics in the auditorium and the library, which then – working from the inside out – create
a sculptural effect on the exterior of the building. So, rather than creating form for form’s sake, it is the inner working of the spaces that determines the design. It is the consistency of working the whole project through from functional and aes thetic needs that results in the integrity of the design, says Adrian Carter. With the opening of the Utzon Centre this spring, he and the rest of the team behind the project experienced the culmination so far, of realising the idea, which Adrian Carter fostered se veral years ago. The formulation of the concept, and the plan ning and subsequent construction of the centre are now over. Ahead of all this now awaits the exiting challenge of realising the visions, creating new possibilities for sharing Utzon’s ideas, and to shape the architects and designers of the future in the spaces which so richly illustrate those ideas.
Louise Fiil Hansen Tina Vestermann Olsen
Urban design Supervisors: Hans Kiib Ole B. Jensen
NYC Offshore – a resilient city approach
The project takes its starting point in a design competition concerned with a hurricane scenario; the temporary accom modation for a displaced population. However; it proposes a critical, resilient approach to contemporary planning practices in flood-prone areas advocating proaction rather than reaction through design that materializes as a scenario based master plan incorporating a time variable.
Anne Sofie Hartelius
BLOKKENE
terrasse
hule
aktivitetsareal
siddemøbel
klatrevæg
Supervisor: Victor Silva
soloterrasser
træafgrænsning
stakit
blomsterkumme
træafgrænsning
Urban Design
terrasse
gummiasfaltflade
blåaks
græs
tørreplads
forplads
siv
kvartershus
legepukler
asfaltflade træflade
renovation
havelåge
tagrør
bænke
aktivitetsstænger
træningspavilloner
trappe
hæk
betonplinte
Local regeneration Søheltekvarteret
miljøplads
legeflader
sceneareal
kirsebærtræer hyggekroge
bunker
blomstereng
lund strandeng
blommetræer
tagrør
paradisæbletræer
træafgrænsning
– activating urban space
SøHK
The local regenera tion of SøHK is carried out through an overall ‘urban space and traffic’ plan. Five spaces have been qualified for further processing. The future development for these has been constructed in a strategy, a plan for interventions, program ming and actual design. Two of these spaces are designed as activating urban spaces, with materials and elements to activating socially and physically.
ANKERPLADSEN
Kaja Misvær
POST NORWAY
problem:
Industrial design
employees are not involved as users in development projects and lack ownership and motivation. innovation staff
Supervisor: Poul Kyvsgaard Hansen
employee
customer
solution: OPEN POST Front Stage
Back Stage
use service design and connect all prosject as touch points of the same service
involve the employees as users
Open Post
www.åpenpost.no problem/ potential
The project is done in collaboration with Post Norway and deals with service design as a driver for innovation. It proposes how this new and userfriendly design discipline can help the organisation improve and innovate services. Openpost.no will be a communication channel and innova tion platform to support and involve employees. This gives Post Norway user insight, ideas and employee ownership.
campaign
info & competition contributions
10
ideas
start prosjects
info & questions user insight
pilot
info, manual & questions feed-back
imple mentation
info & manual
Jeanett Kølbæk Hansen
architecture Supervisor: Hanne Tine Ring Hansen
Naturbørnehaven
Nature day care is a design proposal for a new day care facility for Røjle, Middelfart. The result is a day care, where considerations concerning architecture, natural ventilation and construction have been integrated, and where the senses and motor functions of the children are being challenged and strengthened. The wooden building is built by means of industrial ised production methods, to reduce the building period and cost, while the quality is maintained.
11
Rikke Løgtved Gitte Højland Hansen
Urban Service Area ::
Sports-Scape ::
M.B.D ::
Urban design Supervisors: Peter Mandal Hansen Hans Kiib
110 km/h
+ City Layers
Design Scenarios ::
Crossing
Functional connection
Staging urban space
Junction
Left-over space
Merging urban structure
Enclosed enclave
Sharing urban environment
5 km/h
Motorway Typologies
Junction City – challenge the urban motorway
The project is an inves tigation of the design challenges related to the meeting between the motorway and the city. Motorway elements, such as Crossing, Junction and Pocket are challenged as urban structures. New urban motorway scenarios are created by mixing these elements with different city layers. Thereby the city and the motorway are connected physically, visually and programmatically.
P
arking
Prototypes ::
P
arking
Section: M.B.D
Sunken garden Public Parking Business Hotel Lounge
12
Restaurant
High-rise Fitness
Tennis Court
Katja Vestergaard Nielsen
architecture Supervisor: Peter Mandal Hansen
Ravnkilde Forest Chapel
The chapel is non-re足 ligious and is a place where everyone can come and say goodbye in a way that is right for them. The chapel con足 sists of four cobber boxes on pillars over a ravine in the middle of a forest. To get here the visitors walk along a path through the forest, across a skywalk leading out to the chapel between the top of the tall trees. Here they will be in a different world, free to grief.
13
Carina Frelling
Urban design Supervisor: Jørgen Møller
Hammershøj – the villages of the citizens
This project takes place in Hammershøj which is the largest village at Øland. The aim for the project is how more life can be created in the villages through citizen involvement, greenifica tion and embellishment plans, and urban space designs. The result is an overall plan for the village and three urban space designs in the village which invites to activities, meetings and life.
10m
14
Mats Thomassen
architecture Supervisor: Peter Mandal Hansen
Diving Centre
Front elevation 1:200
15
This project defines a new diving centre for the region of Hvaler, Norway. It has the intention to pro duce a specific atmos phere, a setting able to raise the value of each diver’s experience. Use of dramatic shapes and structures, creates an explicit connection between building and context; steel, concrete and wood are materials all used to accentuate the mightiness of the surrounding nature.
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN YEARBOOK 2008
www.aod.aau.dk
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN YEARBOOK
2008