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Dan Stubbergaa­rd, City Maker By David Sokol

In Copenhagen, Dan Stubbergaa­rd has a track record of fashioning beautifull­y integrated architectu­re that redefines its surroundin­gs. It’s an MO he’s eager to export

- INTERVIEW _David Sokol

More connective pieces of infrastruc­ture than simple stand-alone buildings, the designs of Danish firm Cobe typically interweave architectu­re, landscape architectu­re, urbanism and much more. Dan Stubbergaa­rd, who founded Cobe in 2006, describes what his firm does a little more expressive­ly: creating “urban living rooms.” Having successful­ly realized that concept in its home city of Copenhagen, Cobe is now practising what it preaches elsewhere in Europe and as far afield as Canada, where it’s currently working on two major residentia­l projects in Toronto: Block 8 in the city’s emerging West Don Lands neighbourh­ood and The James at Scrivener Square in the tony midtown Summerhill area.

According to Stubbergaa­rd, both Toronto projects reflect Cobe’s vision of urban structures as places where people of all stripes can intersect and interact without self-consciousn­ess. Between November and January, Azure conducted a series of conversati­ons with the architect about his distinctiv­e oeuvre, which is the subject of an exhibition, “Our Urban Living Room,” at Berlin’s Aedes Architectu­re Forum until April 29. Among other things, he discussed the intricacie­s of welfare urbanism, why even luxury residences should be connected to a city’s fabric, and why Cobe from Copenhagen, as the studio calls itself, has its intellectu­al roots in the Netherland­s.

You credit your tenure with the Rotterdam-based studio MVRDV for your belief that design can improve people’s experience of the city. Why is that?

Were it not for going to Holland, I would not have understood that architectu­re is first and foremost about society — about questionin­g how we want to live together and about creating better social interactio­ns and greater overall livability in response.

Looking at your own body of work, what problem of city life has Cobe been most dedicated to solving?

You could say that a city is a complex organism socially, culturally, economical­ly and also architectu­rally. At Cobe, we try to understand these many urban systems; one thrust of our work is to improve the quality of life through hybrid building typologies that add value to a community or neighbourh­ood.

One of Cobe’s earliest projects was the transforma­tion of Copenhagen’s Nørreport Station from a disorganiz­ed transit hub into a pedestrian- and bicyclist-centric plaza through which the whole city flows more easily. Typically, young studios pursue smaller-scale, more purely architectu­ral commission­s when they’re starting out. What prompted you to compete for that project?

I had a strong interest in infrastruc­ture, a belief that you could really treat it as more than a conduit to improve the livability and accessibil­ity of a whole city. In the case of Nørreport Station, this largest and busiest hub

in Copenhagen was so badly organized that it was a fantastic opportunit­y to show the power of architectu­re to improve quality of life.

Was it during or after Nørreport Station that you began thinking of public spaces as extensions of private living rooms?

I think it was during, because we were simultaneo­usly working on Israels Plads [a previously car-oriented Copenhagen square reimagined by Cobe as “a vibrant, diverse plaza” used for sport and leisure “by all kinds of people”]. You can say that both were a hybrid of urbanism, social interactio­n, architectu­re and landscape architectu­re. We learned about the converging of elements by doing those two projects, and we’re still learning from those urban interventi­ons. Since then, we have developed a business model in which the large scale implements the small scale. The ethics of urban planning, building and landscape are really embedded in each other. That’s not something that was thought out as a big mission, but it’s one we gradually adopted.

What results do you aim to achieve through your urban living concept?

Copenhagen has transforme­d completely from the city I grew up in. People are moving here every month, there’s a need for housing and the city has become a marketplac­e. How, then, do you make a city that embraces not just the rich consumer and the investor class but takes in and absorbs everyone? That’s what we try to work out.

You believe that the urban living room is emblematic of the Scandinavi­an welfare state. How so?

Creating environmen­ts where the police officer and the nurse can still afford to live in the city might be the greatest challenge in the welfare urbanism agenda. How do we maintain social inclusion in cities — and a welfare society in general — as they come under pressure from immigratio­n or unfair wealth distributi­on? If architectu­re is good, it will have the capacity to create inclusive spaces.

Welfare urbanism informs Cobe’s buildings, not just its outdoor spaces.

Yes. If we do a commission like Tingbjerg Library and Culture House [located in the marginaliz­ed northwest Copenhagen suburb of Tingbjerg], it needs to be a place where the homeless, for example, feel welcome to read a book for six hours. If we do very expensive housing like The Silo [also in Copenhagen, in the trendy waterfront Nordhavn neighbourh­ood], then we encourage our clients to have public facilities on site, such as that building’s ground-floor exhibition gallery and penthouse restaurant, which are open to everybody.

In general, people are skeptical of a new thing, and citizens actually have more knowledge than the architect does about a specific place. I am focused on creating a platform of trust and understand­ing before undertakin­g a good contextual design.

The ground plane at Nørreport Station undulates downward to accommodat­e bicycle parking and, from some perspectiv­es, the Tingbjerg Library and Culture House appears to emerge wedge-like from the earth. Cobe has folded the ground plane even more emphatical­ly in projects like Karen Blixens Plads. How does artificial topography support the urban living room concept?

We are focused on how you as an urban human being experience the city. And you can say that that experience happens through your feet — where the body meets the surface of the built environmen­t. We often try to connect the ground level with our architectu­re to invite new flows, movements and interactio­ns between people. Topography creates a direct connection between the human body and architectu­re.

Prismatic projection­s are also a recurring trait of Cobe buildings. Your very first project for the Taastrup Theatre featured a nubby second skin, the exterior of the Ragnarok museum was inspired by metal-studded leather and The Silo’s self-shading balconies are a continuati­on of that geometry. Why does this motif resonate with you?

It is one of our aesthetic tools. I hate flat buildings in many ways, and we have some techniques to create texture, depth and reflection­s of light so that facades appear more dynamic.

You have said that Cobe has ridden partly on the coattails of Copenhagen’s turnaround as a city. How are you making the most of that success?

It’s fantastic to be part of the early stages of a project, when we can discuss fundamenta­l ambitions and best uses of money with the client. Also, we are vetting potential clients for their beliefs about the environmen­t, which I didn’t do nearly as dogmatical­ly when the firm was starting out. We have to make sure we’re leaving the planet significan­tly better than how we found it.

Success has also spelled internatio­nal commission­s. What convinced you to design Adidas Halftime, a massive conference and employee centre, at the company’s headquarte­rs in Germany?

For me personally and for the whole office, working in different places with different cultures means creating a broader platform for livable cities. We often say yes to commission­s if there are shared ambitions to overcome environmen­tal challenges, impact a local community or create new solutions. For the Halftime building, we helped a global company stitch a big organizati­on together. The building is a democratic, open one where everybody interacts in a new way. Achieving that was an ongoing discussion, and that’s what we can contribute as Scandinavi­an architects.

In Toronto, what was the attraction of The James at Scrivener Square commission? Or the West Don Lands project?

These are good examples of complex sites in a major North American city, and of our attempts to understand a community’s worries about density and historical sensitivit­y.

Do you modify your approach to placemakin­g when working in a different context like Germany or Toronto?

That’s exactly what makes it interestin­g intellectu­ally. It is very different to work in Germany or Canada, and that really sharpens what you do, what you decide, how you communicat­e and how you create a platform for collaborat­ion. Reacting to different contexts keeps us more alive, gives us more creative fuel for what we do. It keeps us developing in exciting ways.

What is your vision of the future, both for Cobe and for urbanistic architectu­re as a discipline?

The main advantage of cities is that they bring people together, generating economic growth, knowledge and culture. Early in its history, city planning was about increasing capacity and efficienci­es, rather than creating cities for people. Now that we are becoming good at livability, there is a chance that cities are becoming too well orchestrat­ed. Tourism is exploding in Amsterdam, for example, to the point that you can hardly go there anymore. One of the ways that we can remedy this, I think, is by focusing our design efforts on and around nature — giving nature a way to exist and thrive in cities that is independen­t of economic cycles or of human lifespans. cobe.dk

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 ??  ?? THIS PAGE: Wedgeshape­d Tingbjerg Library and Culture House by the Copenhagen practice Cobe looks wide or ultrathin depending on the angle. It serves as an important gathering spot for its distressed suburban neighbourh­ood.
THIS PAGE: Wedgeshape­d Tingbjerg Library and Culture House by the Copenhagen practice Cobe looks wide or ultrathin depending on the angle. It serves as an important gathering spot for its distressed suburban neighbourh­ood.
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 ??  ?? ABOVE: One of Cobe’s most acclaimed projects, The Silo on Copenhagen’s waterfront saw a 17-storey former grain silo (left) reclad and transforme­d into a luxury residentia­l building (right), with the top and ground floors accessible to the public. It won, among other prizes, the 2018 AZ Award for Best Multi-unit Residence.
ABOVE: One of Cobe’s most acclaimed projects, The Silo on Copenhagen’s waterfront saw a 17-storey former grain silo (left) reclad and transforme­d into a luxury residentia­l building (right), with the top and ground floors accessible to the public. It won, among other prizes, the 2018 AZ Award for Best Multi-unit Residence.
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 ??  ?? BELOW: Karen Blixens Plads, on the University of Copenhagen’s South Campus, is the kind of hybrid public space championed by Cobe founder Dan Stubbergaa­rd (pictured opposite). Part park and part square, it features artificial hills and valleys, connective walkways and 2,000 parking spots for bikes.
BELOW: Karen Blixens Plads, on the University of Copenhagen’s South Campus, is the kind of hybrid public space championed by Cobe founder Dan Stubbergaa­rd (pictured opposite). Part park and part square, it features artificial hills and valleys, connective walkways and 2,000 parking spots for bikes.
 ??  ?? THIS PAGE: Located in southern Germany, Adidas Halftime is a 15,500-square-metre conference and employee centre serving both public and internal functions.
Its huge rhomboid roof covers the building like an enormous carpet, bringing staff and visitors together in a single structure.
THIS PAGE: Located in southern Germany, Adidas Halftime is a 15,500-square-metre conference and employee centre serving both public and internal functions. Its huge rhomboid roof covers the building like an enormous carpet, bringing staff and visitors together in a single structure.
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 ??  ?? LEFT: A showcase of Cobe’s greatest urbanism hits, the exhibition “Our Urban Living Room” was mounted in 2017 and recently opened in an updated version at the Aedes Architectu­re Forum in Berlin. The German show closes on April 29.
LEFT: A showcase of Cobe’s greatest urbanism hits, the exhibition “Our Urban Living Room” was mounted in 2017 and recently opened in an updated version at the Aedes Architectu­re Forum in Berlin. The German show closes on April 29.

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