Housing and Welfare_Exhibition and International Conference Call

Peder Duelund Mortensen
Associate Professor, Architect MAA
The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Schools of
Architecture, Design and Conversation
Philip de Langes Allé 10
DK - 1435 Copenhagen K
peder.duelund@kadk.dk
Telephone reception: 4170 1500
Telephone direct: 4170 1752
5. June 2014
Exhibition and Conference:
REVIEW|RELEASE|REFLECT – HOUSING AND WELFARE|COPENHAGEN
The exhibition and conference Review|Release|Reflect - Housing and Welfare|Copenhagen is scheduled
for spring 2015 by The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, KADK. The
exhibition and conference brings together projects, research and a public audience in Copenhagen to
discuss the development of everyday life and settlement, and to bring the theme into a European city
perspective:
Does a Copenhagen model exist in housing and settlement: The Finger Plan, the urban public space
program, the low rise concept, city of bicycles, the park policy, the blue plan, communities in
courtyards, building and gardens, the semiprivate space for negotiation and the informal atmosphere?
Can types be developed in the Copenhagen settlement? And if so how do they look if they exist in other
European cities – which other types can be found there?
The challenge and potential of architecture can be found in developing framework for settlement and
daily life: To design simple and robust housing architecture and to make it work with equal
possibilities and safety for citizens. At the same time to design architecture opening to the diversity of
life and changes through time. It is an increasing challenge in the 21st century due to globalization of
markets, social and economic polarization, pressure on the institutions of the welfare society and
cultural individualization. The challenge appears in settlement by a growing consumption of m2
simultaneously with housing shortage, in weakened communities, ghettoes and gates. The open urban
spaces are transformed to fit needs of special groups and needs i.e. caused by climate change. The
spatial and organizational generosity is replaced by densification and worn out.
Can solutions be found to this challenge by focusing on the social and cultural potential for change and
interpretation, on the entire housing construction, the tectonics and details. On use of the best of
industrial production and at the same time to insist on and design for the informal, the unplanned and
may be temporary, on the play and the beauty; in short to separate the architectural program from the
content and to escape from over designing?
It is the aim of the exhibition and conference to materialize this hypothesis, to look back in history and
forward, to reflect and approach a perspective on problems, traditions and pragmatic strategies seen
from European positions.
The theme can be seen by three optics:
- Types in housing and settlement, character and openness, robust to lifestyles and change over
time – an architectural and artistic optic.
- The necessary community and space of negotiation between the public, semiprivate and
private – an architectural and cultural optic.
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Tectonics, heavy versus light weight, temporary and individual, industrialization and ecology –
an architectural and economic optic.
The exhibition and conference
The exhibition and conference Review|Release|Reflect - Housing and Welfare will give insight in a near
future of Copenhagen. The challenges of the welfare state and architectural program are materialized
and reflected from positions in Copenhagen and met by European and interdisciplinary optics.
The exhibition shows projects in Greater Copenhagen, right now on the tables of architect offices. It is
real projects in a stage of planning, but new and unknown to the public, politicians and profession – an
insight in a near reality, Copenhagen spaces of tomorrow. The projects are partly related to urban
development and partly transformation of existing buildings and cultural heritage. But also
institutions, business, urban public space and planning, changing the architecture of settlement and
daily life.
The offices are parallel to this asked to choose a work from their own production (or another?),
realized or they would like to see realized. The selected work is seen as a comment and perspective on
the actual positions of the architects. The offices are asked to formulate in words the review, release
and reflection.
The exhibition and conference is also presenting actual development and research into housing and
welfare, going on in offices, the academy architect school and universities contributing to and
reflecting on the development of housing and settlement. The projects are primarely selected among
the interdisciplinary research network Centre of Housing Research, active and productive in recent
years funded by Realdania. And projects are selected from papers delivered by EAAE, The European
Association for Architectural Education as well as by researchers and artistic development of KADK.
The two networks are behind the conference in collaboration with KADK.
The exhibition and conference finally encloses works and contributions from international architects,
offices and researchers knowing Copenhagen and Danish housing architecture from guest professor
positions and exhibitions on KADK. And selected housing projects from the new specialized candidate
programs from KADK are exhibited. Projects, key note speakers and articles are invited from Atelier
Bow-Wow and Katzunari Sakamoto Architectural Office, Tokyo, architect Pierre d’Avoine and
anthropologist Clare Melhuish, London, Anne Lacaton, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Paris, Ricardo
Flores, Flores|Prats, Barcelona, architect Jorge Lobos, Santiago de Chile and University of Sassari, Italy,
and we are I contact with projects and researchers from Austria. They are all asked to challenge,
comment and to give perspective on housing of Copenhagen by presenting their own work. We also
invite sociologist Richard Sennett, professor David Leatherbarrow, professor Ali Malkawi, professors
Carsten Thau and Jens Kvorning and landscape architects Alexandre Chemetoff and Gill Clement.
Review: The offices are selecting among own works - or others works – an earlier project and exhibits
this as a comment to their current work. The researchers accentuate a point in the theoretical
background, a quotation or look at a realized work, building or artistic.
Release: The offices exhibit a housing project they are working on right now, and thus open for insight
in the rather confidential, closed space of the design process. The researchers materialize a current
housing research project, background and temporary findings.
Reflect: The offices introduce project program, comments and give perspective by the selected
material. The researchers comment and give perspective on their project materialization.
Presentations in the exhibition hall and conference sessions introduce discussions continued in
relation to the public key notes.
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Discussing and visual
The building architecture and research projects will be exhibited in 3D and visual language with
models, film, animation and original drafts communicating the entire project, the material detail and
space for life. The themes, background, project overview and profiles will be explained in articles i.e.
about Copenhagen city planning and politics of architecture. In continuation of the exhibition and the
conference is a publication planed, which extend and develop the material addressed to a professional
and public audience. The publication build on a selection of the exhibited projects, papers and
discussions qualified in a peer reviewed process.
The exhibition and conference take place in Meldahls Smedie on the Royal Danish Academy of Fine
Arts Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, KADK close to the city center in March-May
2015, a year with special focus on architecture in Copenhagen. The exhibition is a follow up on
Copenhagen Spaces, a venue in 1996 realized in collaboration with Copenhagen Municipality. The
exhibition is coordinated an published in collaboration with Copenhagen Architecture Festival titled
CAF x Scene. The Coordinator of CAF is Josephine Michau, Michau+ supported by the Copenhagen
Municipality, committee of Culture and Realdania. Key note lectures will be open to the public.
Timetable for planning, exhibition, conference and publishing
Spring 2014
Plan, budget, funding and survey. Agreements with key notes
Autumn 2014
Collecting and work on material
Vinteren 2014
Planning and call to conference
Marts- maj 2015
Review of abstracts, edition of catalogue, opening venue and conference
June 2015
Edition and publishing of Proceedings
July to December 2015
Summary, reflections and publishing of book
The exhibition, conference and publication is edited and realized by associate professor, architect
Peder Duelund Mortensen, KADK/curator and editor in cooperation with:
Professor, architect PhD Claus Bech Danielsen, SBI/Aalborg University
Anthropologist, assistant professor PhD Mark Vacher, The Saxo Institute, Copenhagen University
Professor, architect PhD Anne Beim, KADK
Associate professor, architect PhD Jonna Majgaard Krarup, KADK
Professor, architect Jorge Lobos, University of Santiago de Chile and Sassari University
Illustrations are enclosed.
June 5th 2014
Peder Duelund Mortensen
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Peder Duelund Mortensen
Associate professor, architect MAA
Enclose
REFERENCES
Housing exhibitions on KADK in Meldahls Smedie
Curator and exhibition architect: Peder Duelund Mortensen in cooperation with the exhibiting
architects and organizers. All photo PDM
Arkitektur DK 4-5/1996 the exhibition Copenhagen Spaces - Københavnernes Rum and reference about
Ørestad
The exhibition Chiloé Archipélago – tradition and modernity, 2005 and interior of house at Chiloé,
architect Jorge Lobos, 2008
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The exhibition Sverre Fehn: Intuition–Refleksion–Konstruktion, 2010
The exhibition Poetry in the ordinary – Katzunari Sakamoto, 2007 and interior of Sakamotos own
house, Tokyo 2010
The exhibition Land, Architecture, People in Meldahls Smedie, 2009 with works of the architects Pierre
d’Avoine and Andrew Houlton, and anthropologist Clare Melhuish.
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