2015 is declared by UNESCO as the Year of Light. Regardless of how and what it will be marked globally, everyone is free to think about the proposed topic for himself. MARCH and VELUX in a joint project drew our attention to the fact that light is the most important component of architecture, interacting with all its material and metaphysical components. Signe Kongebro said that the light must be calculated. Jan Søndegaard showed how light helps keep architecture alive with feelings and sensations. But Helle Juul unexpectedly admitted that, as an urbanist, she would not talk about light. For her, the energy of light is in those values that are preserved, supported and approved by architects with their projects. This idea is supported by the statement of Fleming Frost - a colleague and husband of Helle Juul: “The conversation about light is much broader than practical interests. This is a story about the openness of society, transparency, clarity of relations."
Architect Helle Juul - Member of the European Cultural Parliament, urbanist, CEO and co-owner of JUUL | FROST Arkitekter. At the very beginning of her story, she recalled what fanatical actions lead to without understanding and knowledge. In the center of Berlin, on Bebelplatz in 1995, a memorial to the burned books was opened. A square well under thick glass - its surface is aligned with the pavement. There is a glow from there, but when you look, there are only empty shelves in the depths. This is a symbol of loss: here on the square on May 10, 1933, the Nazis burned books … "It is important to fill any foundation pit with knowledge" - this is how the very idea of Helle Juul's speech can be interpreted. In addition, in addition to the design, research and educational activities of the JUUL | FROST Arkitekter publishes books. Not representative ones with gold embossing, but in the format of a notebook, in a paperback - desktop copies for work, similar to synopses on topical topics. In 2014, on the 10th anniversary of their project “Best Economy Housing”, the architects also invited a journalist to write a story about how the organization of the space influenced the lives of the people in this complex.
High words in Denmark are well adapted to everyday life. Immediately at the Copenhagen airport, he is greeted with a bravura statement: "We are the happiest nation in the world." But the Danes also design new housing, for example, without forgetting about it. For example, it is important for them that the windows in the apartment must face different sides. In the central entrances - two apartments on the site - there is no more! - but the main thing here is not square meters for sale? This is exclusively their national standard. In neighboring Sweden - and in Malmö there is a branch of JUUL | FROST Arkitekter - they are less scrupulous about end-to-end ventilation of apartments. However, in the project of a student dormitory building with offices in Orebro, Sweden, the Danish bureau provided for two-sided lighting in small blocks for 1-2 people.
Another example is the same “Best Economy Housing” complex in the city of Køge, built in 2004. Three residential groups are connected, but each is an independent formation, with its own streets and courtyards. The cars were taken out of the neighborhoods, and the residential blocks were united by air passages: additional connections were obtained. The facades differ in the grid and rhythm of the windows; on the first floors, window openings are aligned with lawns and entrance doors. According to the scenario envisaged by the designers, good neighborly interaction is based on respect for individuals endowed with equal benefits. And this is embedded in the spatial symbolism at all levels: from the general area to courtyards.
One gets the impression that Danish architects do not just build real estate objects, but create places where it is useful and joyful for people to communicate with each other. Even if this is a building that we would classify as a multifunctional office center. Our centers often do not have enough air, despite the size of the box, "presentable" finishing of the facades. Everything is crumbled for rent, paid fitness is launched into the large hall, reporting meetings are held in the assembly hall, if such is the case. In the MEC (Media Evolution City) project in Malmö, a variety of companies, studios are united under one roof, a coworking space is arranged, in a common cafe, open on the street, towards the harbor, on Fridays everyone drinks beer together. MEC is programmed as a “city within a city” - with inner streets and lanes, underground levels, public spaces for informal meetings, creating temporary communities and interest groups. The main thing is not a "fortress", but a place for urban communications, open and accessible to all. At the same time, communication, no matter how varied it may be, is started not only for its own sake.
Explaining the meaning of the project, Helle talks about the “concept of added value”. It's not about money - it's about contacts and interdisciplinary exchanges of knowledge that make it possible, by changing the perspectives of discussions, to anticipate development. About the synergy effect. In the flexible MEC space, the business environment is in contact with the research and student environment - there are also classrooms and laboratories of the University of Malmö. Helle calls this functioning strategy a plug-in plan: the MEC module has connected to the life of the harbor area, adding new formats of interaction. By the way, the office of JUUL | FROST in Malmö is located just in the MEC.
“It is important for an architect to take into account the ever-changing living and working conditions,” Helle explained. - The industrial society was based on function, and this determined the code of people's behavior. Now we spend time differently than 20 years ago, we have become more critical and picky. The work of an architect is closely related to the issues of social programming: we need to study the behavior of people, formulate suggestions about what interaction may be in the future. Architects shape the vision of the future in all directions and scales: from residential buildings to natural landscapes and urban areas. This is pure pragmatics: methodological analysis, understanding of trends and trends suggest unique solutions. Unique - that is, those that help to promote the social, cultural and economic potential of society (here I once again caught myself comparing with our situation: architects are more worried about the interests of a private client).
The development concept of Kristiansand is a good example of strengthening urban communication. A concept that is consistent with the principles of creating livable cities - planning for possible changes, shared vision, social programming, safety, proactive strategies, short / long term priorities. The designers had to figure out not only how to connect different parts of the city, but more - to diversify its life! In Kristiansand, out of 80 thousand inhabitants, 15 thousand are students. The campus is located outside the city, its intellectual and emotional mood is weakly affected. And there is also a third isolated area - with a hospital complex. What to do with all this? Helle Juul believes that, first of all, it is necessary to establish cooperation. With municipalities, stakeholders, customers. Experts from different parts of Kristiansand were delegated for preliminary discussions - they talked about the needs, agreed on responsibility … Then it was necessary to come to a common understanding of the tasks, to draw this most common vision.
“It used to be that we should design houses,” says Helle. "It is much more important to teach the authorities, the customer, the townspeople to see the potential of the place." So, the “trick” of Kristiansand is in its scientific potential, so the concept is designed to enhance the role of the university in the life of the city. It is necessary to invite students to the city, and the city to the campus, and so as not to cut off the medical territory from this flow of movements and mutually beneficial exchanges. The strategy for the implementation of these plans includes the creation of so-called points of attraction: objects and places of interest not only to the residents of the three "ghettos" themselves. The campus is supplemented with offices, the hospital is a good clinic, the university is set up in the city, and all this can be accentuated by experimental architecture and landscape design.
In an effort to unite the life of universities and cities, there is no nostalgic flirtation with the student atmosphere. This is a global trend: increasing the role of knowledge in the life of cities, direct connection of science and industry. Moving from the academic village to the hub. Universities are drivers of urban development: this is how it should be. Public, open knowledge is their energy. These meanings must fill urban spaces, must be read in the new architecture. They can be seen in the design of the University Square in Örebro. According to Helle, it was necessary to overcome the isolation of the "introverted village" 3 kilometers from the city. Under the terms of the competition, which won the bureau, they came up with programs and designs for three new buildings in the area. The name of the square - "Iceberg" - conveys the idea of coverage and the principle of catchment, and the space itself is an excellent navigator: there is an attractive image and an understanding of how to move, where to go. Moreover, the floor in the business school is designed at the same level as the square - as its continuation.
In 2007-2009, the JUUL company | FROST Arkitekter has published books on modern campuses. There are wonderful words there that have been scientifically proven: just sitting listening to lectures is not effective. Successful learning requires different conditions, the environment helps (or inhibits) development, promotes (or hinders) the assimilation of knowledge. In the modern version, the space should be not only transparent, but also multifunctional, hybrid. Filled up all day long.
Efforts to find additional energy are a product of global urban competition. Even monsters like the famous Norwegian oil company cannot ignore it. Statoil orders JUUL | FROST the concept of transformation of Forus, the suburb of Stavanger, where its headquarters is located. The attractiveness of the territory for a potential investor increases due to the compaction of the layout of the plan, the creation of green routes, a water channel, and providing a 10-minute walking distance to all attractive areas and objects in the town. So that high-class engineers from all over the world want to come here to exchange experience and knowledge, and an attractive environment is created.
Helle Juul is sure that only those who can offer something different from the rest win. She remembered Barcelona - a city that changes every 4 years, constantly attracting guests and everyone's attention. Here they build non-standard buildings, lay alleys, create new public spaces - in response to real, well-understood and meaningful needs of people. Barça has relied on “cultural planning” - and this is a new area of expertise. In the book about public spaces that Helle gave me, there are examples of strategies from other cities. Science aside, Malmö captures the imagination: there is a skating park (or rollerblading?), And children from all over Europe come there on vacation. “The authorities are obliged to do such projects, taking into account the peculiarities of the city. Only consultants are needed,”Helle clarifies.
She told about another city - in the center of Denmark. As you know, in this country, almost every settlement is located near the sea. Closeness to water is an undeniable value. In this sense, Silkeborg was left out. Then the city decided to dig a large lake - there are now jazz festivals that have glorified the provincial center throughout Europe.
The value of Helle Juul's observations and advice is enhanced by the fact that she is not only familiar with the experience of Europe: Professor Juul also teaches in Australia and America. She does not cite the competitive leaps of Shanghai as an example, because it is a completely different story, and in Denmark it is a “socially balanced society”.
I haven't mentioned yet that Helle's presentation included a slide with portraits of people whose books she sees as catalysts for change. Jane Jacobs, Georg Simmel, Sennett and Lefeuvre, Deleuze and Guattari, Kevin Lynch … Danish architects believe that it is worth re-reading them to test new concepts and ideas. Where is the architecture here? Proportions, lines, materials, light, finally?
In the work of Umberto Eco "Open Work" (and she is also mentioned in the donated book about public spaces), the idea is expressed that the process of rethinking never ends: the idea will be discussed after the author's final point. And only multi-layered information leads to the comprehension of the aesthetic.
