L008_Orestad Public Space
Copenhagen, DenmarkIdentity of ørestad south
The major problems associated to the large scale new urban developments built in a short period of time, compared with the natural growing of the historical city, are the luck of sense of
identity and the difficulty of generating a balanced urban life.
Ørestad South is based on a master plan where there is no space for imitations of the result of the natural growing of the historical city. The plan assumes its artificial generation and articulates a language based on the combination of different pieces of contemporary architecture to create its specific artificial identity.
The proposal is a reflection over the power of the artificial to generate identity in the contemporary city.
The proposed urban space of Ørestad South invites the citizens to enjoy a virtual walk through three routes (the woods, the park and the canal) in order to visit seven artificial landscapes. The design of these landscapes is based on natural elements latent in the collective memory of the Danish people:
The fiords, the cliffs, the dunes, the forest, the fields, the meadows and the islands.
Five key challenges to city life
City life round the clock
The public space is designed in a way that it provides the maximum flexibility of activities along the time (during the day, along the different days of the week and in the different seasons of the year) and for very different target groups.
Balance between quietness and activity
Large scale: The most active zones have been concentrated in the three main squares where shops, cafés, restaurants, libraries, etc. will be located. The rest of the squares are preserved for more relaxing activities.
Medium scale: Medium scale zones are filled-in with quiet activities such as table games areas, “silent” sport fields, outdoor library, etc. that don’t disturb the residential areas close to them.
Ease of overview of secret places
The more intimate spaces have been designed like small open rooms surrounded by dynamic zones.
Balance between the permanent and the temporary
The spaces reserved for the activities of the future residents are designed with the minimum basic layout to be completed in the future according to their needs. The system provides “empty rooms to be filled-in”.
Urban versus recreational centre from one centre to multicentre
The dilemma between a centralised structure of the city district with functions gathered in a central street and the attractive recreative pole located at the southern ends of the north-south urban spaces is solved by the design of three centres.
These centres create a more equilibrated relationship with the recreative poles and shift the gravity centre of the whole area to the south.
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