we architecture

The Suburbs of the Future . Farum

we architecture

Today suburbia is a typology that has been greatly criticized. We believe that sub­urbs have great potential in becoming qualified and generous spaces for the inhab­itants.

This competition was initiated by Realdania in orderto create debate and visions for "The Suburbs of the Future". Farum is today a fragmented suburb located 20 km from the centre of Copenhagen. The competition area is divided by large roads into islands of eclectic architecture composed of buildings mainly from the 70s and the 80s. The main idea of the proposal is to preserve and enhance the character of Farum as a future suburb, combining the best of suburbia and the best of urbanity. The atmosphere of each island is intensified by preserving the existing typologies and upgrading the green areas. The area is densified on the premises of the neigh­bourhood, creating the familiar squares and qualified plazas that we know from sub­urbs, rather than defined streets.
Surrounded by the built islands, the focus site, Bybaekgunden , plays the role as a representative model for how to create robust solutions for the suburbs of the future. The building typology is planned after a flexible grid of 40 x 40 meters with mixed functions in up to 6 storeys. This flexible grid allows space for large squares and pockets in the porous building mass. The resulting typology is a harmonic vari­ety of suburban and urban elements.

team:
Marc Jay, Julie Schmidt-Nielsen, Kristian Hindsberg, Nora Fossum,
Casper Berntsen, Justin Cua, Mikkel Friberg, Tom Benjamin Hobbs
Rasmus Rogen Noesgaard, Steffen Ommundsen, Karen Shiue.
collaborators:
JWH arkitekter, NIRAS, Preben Skaarup landskabsarkitekter, Gitte Marling