OTTO GRAABÆK ARLIEN-SØBORG Aarhus School of Architecture Undergraduate Portfolio 2020
A SEARCH FOR IDENTITY
HOSTEL IN AARSLEV ENGSØ ,AARHUS.
OTTO GRAABÆK ARLIEN-SØBORG
VISUALISATION 1. [1. FLOOR]
COMMUNITY CENTER IN RURAL GERMANY
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UP! - NEW URBAN INTEGRATION OF ELDERLY
ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE FUTURE
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TOILETTE
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+ SKILLS
1/1 EDUCATION
EMPLOYMENT
SKILLS
Aarhus School of Architecture: 2018 - Present.
Kvadrat, Paris: 2015 - 2017.
Kunst & Design, Aarhus: 2017-2018.
Fashion Modelling: New York, Paris, London, Milan 2016 - 2019.
Digital: Adobe Creative Suite Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign Rhinoceros 3D QGIS Grasshopper Microsoft Office Word, Excel, Powerpoint Virtual Reality Unreal Engine, Twinmotion, PBR
Det fri Gymnasium, Copenhagen: 2012-2015
Samsøe Samsøe: 2013 - 2015.
3D-Print [FDM, STL, SLS] Laser Cutter Digital Cutter CNC Cutter Research & Development Theory & Philosophy Analogue: Hand Drafting Physical Model Making Essays and Communication
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+ INTERESTS
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My architectural interests began during my time in Paris, working for Kvadrat, where I
was in dialogue with a lot of different architectural firms, providing textilesamples for major projects. During my stay, we visited Le Corbusier’s Unité d’ Habitation in Marseille. With my limited knowledge of the broader picture of the architectural practice I thought that architecture was what I had always inhabited - what everyone inhabited, and perhaps not much more than that - an autonomous art-form isolated from the ’restraints’ of society and politics. Visiting Unité d’ Habitation, kickstarted my interest and broadened the picture for me. I realised how this architecture sought total control of behaviour and life - it did not just provide shelter, as i had previously believed. It was a totalitarian piece of art, although it was in many ways a failed one, it was made with the very best of intentions.
Le Corbusiers Unité d’ Habitation, Marseille.
From this day on, I was interested in architecture, and perhaps as much in the thoughts and processes surrounding archictecture - the large scale societal, climatic and political forces, that impacts the architecture in the smaller scale, aswell as arts direct impact on the individual, just like in the case of Unité d’ Habitation.
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+ COMMUNITY CENTER IN RURAL GERMANY THIRD SEMESTER
With early capitalistic promises of tourism and growth, the future of Hornbad-Meinberg seemed bright, but when
the German government cut the funding for the baths after W.W. 2, the town had not succesfully left its mark in the population, ending up almost as a scene from a dystopian work of fiction with an eldering population nostalgically clinging to the past, with tales of prosperous hope and community. TOILETTE
The project started out with a digital abstraction of the structural possibilities of wood in relation to the built environment of Hornbad-Meinberg. The dynamics of the abstraction became a thing of great importance for the development of my community center.
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TOILETTE
Model 1:50
Model 1:50
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TOILETTE
The first floor consists of a cafe and a bar situated in a large open plan, in a construction that allows for partial visibility between the floors.
The second floor is mounted to the construction, with visibility and conection to the cafĂŠ and bar. It is a space for dwelling, views, contemplation, discussion, informal concerts and small performances among residents of Hornbad-Meinberg.
The third floor is for excersise, practice, music etc. With windows out towards the main-street of the town.
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4/4 The first visualisation shows the third floor, where children are practising dancing, while a citizen plays the violin. They are preparing for an informal show the following day.
TOILETTE
The second visualisation depicts a scene from the cafĂŠ on the first floor during sunset. A customer is ordering at the cafĂŠ, a student reads, and a man enjoys the view.
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”As you get older, you cross chapters off. Falling in love seems unlikely. I probably won’t get my job back either. It’s difficult coping with the increased feeling of inadequacy as you become older. What has defined one throughout life seems to be of less use, and obviously it gets harder facilitating initiatives yourself. I am too old to start a business, but I would like to do my part in the local community and feel needed and purposeful”
+ UP! - NEW URBAN INTEGRATION OF ELDERLY FOURTH SEMESTER
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”There are dreams, that become more and more unrealistic, but i still dream. I refuse to stop dreaming”
AARHUS, 1:10000
”I like looking out the window, at the blue skies listening to Miles Davis. I just replaced my old stereo with a newer one, so I have been dusting off some records lately”
AARHUS, 1:2000
”It’s like dusting off a long gone youth” - from fictional interview with my grandma, Vibeke.
Graphic replica of my grandmothers living room
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This illustration is an abstraction of different observations from walking around the site. Flipping and extruding the sketches of observations vertically, made for a really interesting seance of qualities. In the process of tweaking and rotating this vertically, qualities appeared both in section, elevation and plan.
My concept revolves around an elderly couple with big dreams,
Carl and Ellie, who has always dreamt of flying away and explore. Since they were kids they were inspired by adventurers travelling to foreign places, experiencing life and dreams. That is the dream for Carl and Ellie. I think it is something that we all dream of.
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The garden is a place of reflection and contemplation with small reading niches well suited for a cold glass of setting-sun chardonnay with fellow residents. If not every evening, then friday and saturdays. With a co-kitchen there is no excuse from bringing your basket, picking out the fresh vegetables and herbs from the garden, and indulge in fellow cooking and eating [its good for your health]. You can stay put for a game of solitaire, whilst listening to Miles Davis or retreat back home or to a niche in the garden with your sidekick. No
matter what you decide, the views are stunning and the atmosphere is great.
Section AA
Section BB
The home, as they say, is where the heart is. This is where you go to sleep, where you wake up, where the kettle screams, the records play endless melodies, and where your grandchildren comes after school [and
sleep over if their parents allow it]. But what exactly defines a home? Is it the four walls, the personal ornaments from a long life gracing the shelves and walls? Well it is, but it doesn’t stop there. There is also four walls enclosing your roof-surface, which means you live with your neighbours aswell. Well, sort of anyhow. Please don’t hesitate to decorate the windows, for the world to see!!
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Section DD
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IN SEARCH FOR IDENTITY WORKSHOP, FOURTH SEMESTER
EXHIBITED AT DINESEN SHOWROOM, AARHUS.
The workshop involved studying vernacular architecture and traditional building types in Northern Europe, examining the influence of geographical context and local culture on their built form. The outcome were analysed to identify five sustainable aspects resulting from either the physical landscape or local culture. Finally, these sustainable aspects were related to a contemporary architectural project that utilises similar sustainable aspects similar to the ones deriving from the vernacular building practice
GlaumbĂŚr, Iceland
THERMAL INSULATION RELATION BETWEEN STREUCTURE AND INTERIOR This functional combination allows for a very efficient use of the interior space as well as an economical use of the rare local building material, wood.
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To combat their susceptibility to erosion from rain and wind, turf houses are designed in a manner to keep the heat inside. They are usually built on the side of a hill, so that the residential part can be completely protected and supported while the front part ’sticks out’. They would usually consist of a group of smaller houses or rooms that are connected by passages, so that people would not need to leave the house to move between dwellings, and thereby preserve the heat inside. Even the barns and stables would often be organized in the samme manner and be connected to the rest of the house. Since heating from coal, oil or wood stoves was not available until the 19th century, all the heat was provided by the fire in the kitchen. Rooms were often situated a couple of feet below the ground level, to avoid frost.
FACADE Icelandic turf houses origanally very seldom had exposed wooden exterior since it insulated worse than the turf, however under danish influence, it seemed more prestiguous to have a wooden exterior, thus much more kindling was needed to heat up the houses. Usually only servants or people from the lower class slept close to the wooden walls, because it was warmer by the turf-insulated walls.
STRUCTURE/SUSTAINABILITY the timber structure of the house is covered with turf bricks and a roof. the grass from the roof grows over, providing the roof with further stability. These buildings made with bio-degradable materials, are eco friendly and energy-efficient. Even the lava stones can be recycled and reused. Usually a house can stand for about twenty years, serving one generation, after which it must undergo repairs. Sometimes turf houses can last from fifty to seventy years, depending on the state of the materials.
Turf houses in Iceland are special because of their unique building technique, influenced by the local climate and available materials. Since the supply of wood was extremely low, most of the timber was importen from abroad. On the other hand, lava stones and turf - the main building materials - were available locally, in large amounts. Turf has proven very durable. It has been taken from the wetlands in order to be properly compacted. The initial foundations are made of lava stones, which are covered with a layer of turf.
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”Most foreign visitors have not sought to explore the country itself, aside from the national costume, because there is nothing else to behold here, which is national, apart from the buildings which are a simply icelandic putridity, and not the good old buildings. All foreigners who are unfamiliar with our history and litterature must judge us from our visible buildings, costumes and customs, and other structures, but those are barely extant and hardly structures at all and it is therefor excusable that those travelers, unfamiliar with our stories, view us as barbarians, however, our national costume has to some degree saved us from the foreigners’ judgment” - Sigurður Guðmundsson
FROM VERNACULAR TO CONTEMPORARY Hafsteinshus is located in the outskirts of Reykjavik. Hafsteinshus measures 283 square meters and it has formed the framework for family life and artistic practice since 1963, for world renowned contemporary artist RagnheiðuR JónsdóttiR. The house was drawn by RagnheiðuR JónsdóttiR and architect Högna Sigurdsardóttir. The drawings of the house were so strange that even the builder did not know what to do with the project, let alone where to end or begin. Högna Sigurdsardóttir worked primarily in Paris, but was born and raised in Reykjavik - in the same collective as RagnheiðuR Jónsdóttir's husband. The drawings of the house has not been published. With the advent of modernism [french modernism in particular] and its break with past, and lust for new forms of expression, the traditional turf-hut form was replaced with a more modern form, consisting purely of reinforced concrete. The ’prestiguous’ and aesthetic, replaced the ’architecture of neccessity’ of the past. With extruded turf-hills embracing the concrete, it clearly seeks to resemble the cultural and architectural heritage of the traditional icelandic turf house typology, which accounts for such an important part of the icelandic self-understanding. However the turf does not serve as a insolating element in the structure, but is merely an aesthetic and cultural feature. Like Glaumbær, there is a clear relation between the structure/form and the interior in terms of functionality. Everything is designed to fit the self-drawn furniture. This time not because of the need to optimize the functionality due to lack of space, but more in the spirit of the traditional turf-huts. With limited visible concrete on the interior, Hafsteinshus furthermore seeks to create the ’rural’ atmosphere of a turf-hut, with wooden cladding on all interior walls and roofs, as seen in Glaumbær Farm House.
Even though most of the ’structural’ elements of the traditional turf-huts are gone, the self-understanding and cultural importance, is still important enough to be implemented, even if they only serve as ornamentation. As a nation with a long history of being under foreign control and getting their own flag in 1944, the importance of national heritage, should come as no surprise. And so the words of Sigurður Guðmundsson still stands.
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TRAVELLERS HOSTEL AT BRAABAND. FIRST SEMESTER
Visiting an old concrete stronghold on our study-trip to rural Germany, i became fascinated with these ’machines of survival’, and what they represent. I wanted to include the typology and the thought-system into my project, because of the way they inhabit the natural surroundings. A sort of static presence, that even dynamite can’t erase, but that nature eventually will.
”When we see how we have succeeded in imposing our own rhytm on nature in the agricultural landscape, how we have altered the life cycle of plants, and animals and even transposed seasons, we become aware of how dangerous a role we have assumed, and there are many who say that the salvation of Landscape Three, depends on our relinquishing this power to alter the flow of time and on our retturning to a more natural order. But the new ordering of time should affect not only nature, it should affect ourselves.” - John Brinckerhoff Jackson, Discovering the vernacular landscape, 1984.
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John Brinckerhoff Jackson’s perspective on the role of ’culture’ in ’nature’ could not justify a concrete intervention in the beautiful nature of Brabrand.
However, Pier Vittorio Aurelis [DOGMA], remarks on accentuating nature through interventions, made a lot of sense to me in this project. Especially as Braband Lake is already a ’man made area’ in need of a restored public interest.
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The main building acts as a meeting ground for the visitors of the hostel. This is where you cook, eat, discuss and establish relations. It is also here that you can facilitate activities for whoever might be interested.
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THE MAIN-HOUSE AXO, 1:1001:100
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’THE BUNKER’ AXO, 1:100
The outdoor kitchen on the first floor is mainly used by the visitors, however there are pop-up kitchens thursday, friday and saturday, where people from the local community comes to visit. It is possible to eat on the ground floor and on the terrace on the first floor. There is space for approximately 50 eating guests. Later in the evening, it is possible to move to the bar to have a night-cap with the people eager to stay, before wandering back to your bunker. The bunker is a place for privacy. It has space for two sleeping guests. There are a total of ten bunkers. All the bunkers have a coordinate written on them, which is how you locate them. The bunker is opened up in the middle, leading down into the. To the left and right are two capsules. One is for sleep, and the other one has a toilet and showering facilities. The terrace on top is facing west for great views of the amazing sunset. In the bunker you can experience several different perspectives on nature.
MAIN-BUILDING
’THE BUNKER’
’THE BUNKER’
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+ ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE FUTURE WORKSHOP, SECOND YEAR
1/3 It is the year 3000. A fragment of an alien artifact has been washed up on the coast. An architectural archaeologist starts analysing the fragment, trying to make sense of it, reconstruct it, recreate its narrative and reproduce it in 1:1.
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Bent wooden artifact, 1:1 CONSTRUCTED SCENARIO.