122_Asbjørn Staunstrup Lund: The Fairy Tale Of Maersk
Asbjørn Staunstrup Lund
About me: From Copenhagen (Denmark) Graduated from Aarhus School Of Architecture in 2015. Including Internship in Istanbul 2012 and exchange at the Bartlett in London 2013. Working as a juniorarchitect for Vandkusnten (DK) 2014. After graduating I started my own practice ASLA in Oslo (Norway) 2015 and today I'm still working with projects in both Norway and Denmark. I just finished an extension in Olso wich will be built this summer and in Dk im focusing mostly on sustainable building pratice research as a consultant for Vandkusnten. I'm currently living in Denmark were I also teach at the Scandinavian school of Design part time.
The Fairy Tale Of Maersk
The project encapsulates a retrospective proposal for Danish shipping magnate Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller. How a sustainable legacy could have been created in the heart of Copenhagen as an alternative to Maersk’s donation of the Copenhagen Opera House which was built in 2000.
As an experiment the work uses H. C. Andersen’s fairy tale The Nightingale as an architectural tool for discovering unknown potential. The process describes the development of a climate adaptation strategy as an attempt to protect Danish core values such as social security.
“A tool to discover unknown necessity. That is the core potential of using the narrative as a catalyst for creating an architectural program.”
WHY: The project is created through an abstraction that in the end encapsulates a concrete proposal.
This program is shaped around the interest for a method. A method where proces is directed by narrative. My affection for stories - fantasy, sci-fi, comic books and fairytales has grown into a research of the implementation of such fiction in architectural development. By combining in this case, a fairy tale from the famous Danish writer; Hans Christian Andersen, to the heart of the Danish capital Copenhagen, a connection of such an experiment is put on trial. The guideline of this method lies within the step by step progress where one experience/discovery leads way to the next one.
In my years as a student surrounding the theme of architecture, I have tried to pursue many different goals as well as skills. But one particular focus has always had my marvelous attention – the lust for visual representation and experimentation in the art of illustrative communication. So far, it has been somewhat controlled by the necessity for developing skills in various programs as is expected knowhow from a freshly educated architect. I believe that we can develop a more useable tool. More abstract, yet relevant. Stories written by authors as intellectuals are always based on something real. More real than any contract writen by entrepreneurs. Whereas the contract always aims at making economic profit, the plot of a story aims at educating the higher values of being human amongst other humans. A believe of which intentions can also be placed into the development of architectural program and process to promote better and more relevant design. The method therefor becomes a tool.
A tool to discover unknown necessity, that is the core potential of using the narrative as a catalyst for creating architecture that will make a difference for the better. The last projects I have done, has been experiments on how to visualize complex narratives directed from poetiv interpretation. The projects stayed in poetic fashion as pieces of art. This was a necessary outcome on the path to learn how to work within the frames of this method.
My goal with this project is to commence an experiment where the project evolves from the abstraction of a fairytale to a concrete architectural proposal of realistic proportions and relevance. The method will enable thoughts that could have never happened without the fairytale and there for, the project could have never happened without the introduction of this method. Originality is a reduced resource among architectural program. Together with the neglect of necessity for proposals addressing improvement of the relationship between nature and industry, you could argue that architects are hiding from their responsibility. Due to our unique ability to connect solution-oriented knowledge to comprehensive multidisciplinary issues, we can provoke a change. The summary of climate change is short: change or die with it. We stand before a new era, NECESSITISM. We have the relevant technologies available and this project will be an experiment in the truth; are we human enough to tolerate the necessary changes?
Instagram name: @aslalab
