Copenhagen KEA Charrette

Beboerprojekt Puls

In 2018, I had the amazing opportunity of traveling to Copenhagen, Denmark to work with a group of artists and designers from around the world on an intensive five day project. Together we were assigned to think of possible solutions to issues happening within certain areas of their community. Our small group of five were given the neighborhood of Nørrebro, a diverse area run by an organization, Boligforeningen AAB, that focuses on adding value to social housing communities by increasing the feeling of security and diminishing the impact of socio-economic backgrounds for the residents.

Some of the issues in this community included:
- Lack of participation in social and demographic activities
- Difficulties in accessing municipal and local resources
- Lack of network throughout the community leading to loneliness and isolation
- Poor physical and mental health
- Educational and employment opportunities
- Parenting and family issues

The Team

Matt Curie

Graphic Designer, Creative Problem Solver

Kristina Mickute

Urban/Spatial Designer

Achraf Jabri

ICT and Media Design

Amelia Kovalenko

Business Economics and IT

Process

The beginning of this project included a site visit along with a meeting with the head of the social housing organization. During this period we were able to see what the community was like and how Boligforeningen AAB would like to help alleviate some of the concerns that residents feel day to day. Together, we formulated service blueprints and customer journeys to grasp the most prominent issues and narrow down possible ideas.

Solution

Our project named ‘NordBinde’ is centered around sparking a new social housing community momentum, allowing people to expand both into the whole neighborhood, and inside their own minds. We want people to feel noticed, listened to and start investing themselves into bettering their lives all together. Their local social housing organisation BEBOERPROJEKT PULS have been trying to do just that, but unfortunately through limited resources, the support reaches only very few people. Change starts from within, and it just needs to be gently ignited.

We want to ignite a new kind of thinking by playing a game with them. A game that is a performance in time, an installation, a mystery and an intrigue. Through curiosity they rediscover their neighborhood, interact with it and see themselves being heard.

Our idea is to install multiple large basic geometric structures, such as a cube, a pyramid, or a sphere throughout the neighborhood to fill in the existing in-between spaces. They would be painted with colored chalkboard paint, essentially becoming giant blackboards for people to interact with. These chalkboards would have phrases written on them, concerning topics that are both relevant and inspiring to their lives, inviting people to write what they think starting a dialog between the community. The beauty and simplicity of these large structures lies in the fact that they are made from very cheap and simple materials, such as timber and wood sheets, yet through their attention demanding presence become powerful. The only other thing needed is chalk.

First, we install the first structure – a black cube - in the northern part of the social housing estate. When people wake up in the morning, they realize there is a new, unknown presence in their surroundings. One that is asking to communicate with it. No signs, no obstructions. This can make not only the people in the neighborhood aware and curious, but also attract other people from Copenhagen to come see the curious spectacle.

Two days later, in the same curious manner, a second mysterious structure appears on the southern end of the neighborhood, also within another social housing district. This time it’s an blue pyramid, exuding its energetic presence, and inviting people to interact with it.

During the next 2 weeks the remaining 5 structures spring up. The locations for the installations have been carefully chosen to spread across the neighborhood equally, thus generating movement all throughout, and opening up the connection between the southern and northern end of NordVest, inviting people to discover it and play the game of ‘treasure hunt’. People start understanding this is not just a one-off thing – these things are part of something bigger.

The culmination of this mysterious spatial performance would be organised by PULS, and would reveal a new physical community space within the neighborhood, co-created with the participation of the community that would attend the final event. This would be a communal action, initiating conversation between people through common activity and personal expression. At the end of the night each person could choose where they want their stool to be permanently installed in the square and then get cemented in, forever becoming a small monument to them being part of a new start for the NordVest community.

This 2 month installation performance is choreographed specially for the local neighborhood, to initiate dialogue between people and PULS in the public sphere, to provoke people to discover their neighborhood and see that they are special. The resulting physical and digital spaces open up new ways for people to start their own initiatives and create things by themselves, for themselves.