Campos Mendes . Domingues

house of fairy tales . odense

André Campos . Joana Mendes Arquitectos . Jorge Domingues - Arquitecto . house of fairy tales

After analyzing the intervention site located in a historic area of Odense, we notice that it is separated by the railway of the surface metro, being its smaller part at the west side “Thomas B Thriges Gade” more related with the greater volumetry surrounding buildings, and the larger part at the east side “Hans Jensens Stræde and Bangs Boder” with the lesser volumetric surrounding buildings.

Each project has its “story”.
What we sought in this project was the understanding of the place, genius loci (1).
To design implies a good understanding of the site, “… design, plan and draw should not translate to the architect as a creation of forms empty of meaning, imposed by a whim of fashion or any other kind of whim. The forms that he creates should result, rather, of a wise balance between his personal views and the circumstance that enwraps him and to attain this he shall know it intensely, so intensely that knowledge and being merge…”.
Who walks through the Lotz’s Garden will find a set of volumes, whose greater asset is not a sophistication of form or constructive system; the program and the relation with the surroundings were the premises always present in this design. Two floors, connected by a underground floor promote the spatial continuity and emphasizes the relation with the outdoors. The opened space that this structure allows characterizes this building as a great community room opened to the outside.
We seek to build a part of the city in which the existing fragments, the traditional houses of Odense, the garden, the new proposal planned for the adjacent area, acquire meaning and scale together: the street, the scale, the rhythm, the proportions, the local identity are the references that we have discovered and did not want to reject.

Located in the west part of the terrain, between the railway of the surface metro and the building, we designed the Lotz’s Garden that connects North and South with the green that characterizes the new street “Thomas B Thriges Gade” thus creating a large square/garden in this part of the city, which also works as an arrival point and extension of the interior spaces of the museum. With the implantation of the volumes in front of the garden we ensure the definition and creation of a limit and the design of the garden.
The garden through which the building can be accessible is comprised of esplanade areas, children playgrounds, living areas and areas referring to the museum containing statues and other objects that are part of Hans Cristian Andersen’s work arousing in this way the curiosity of the visitors. Through the Bangs Border Street and circulation of the streets that separate the volumes of the building until the entrance point, the visitors can see and assimilate the different spaces and ambiences that characterize this building. There exists also another connection with the courtyard where the entrance of the building is located, made through the street corner between Bangs Border Street with Hans Jensens Stræde.
In conclusion, the proposed solution does not bid on the “Venturian” image of “I’M A MONUMENT”, because the city is built in continuity with a rule and the exceptions are for the MONUMENTS which is not the case.

design team: André Campos, Jorge Domingues, Filipa Biscainho, André Lopes, Rui Paiva, Joana Mendes.