New Neighbour brings together Aarhus School of Architecture and Institut for (X) at Godsbanen

By setting up a container city called New Neighbour, the school is joining a new neighbourhood at Godsbanearealerne in Aarhus

20.09.2019

The school’s new container city has gotten off to a good start in the new urban neighbourhood at Godsbanearealerne. And the building which will be home to the new school is now emerging next to the container city.

New Neighbour is part of a larger initiative called The Involving Building Site – a collaboration between Aarhus School of Architecture, contractor A. Enggaard A/S, and Institut for (X). The initiative is based on a shared desire to create a more open construction site that can form part of the neighbourhood while the construction of NEW AARCH takes place. We expect the new school of architecture to be ready for occupation in the summer of 2021.

A temporary learning environment

By setting up New Neighbour, the school has established a temporary learning environment for teaching, project work, and workshops at the construction site. In this way, the building process becomes a coherent learning process for the school’s students.

The chalk-white container building contains both meeting and project spaces. It provides seating for 10 to 40 students and offers outdoor workshop facilities in a covered area on the ground floor.

New Neighbour has been decorated by Icelandic artist duo, Krot & Krass

The New Neighbour office community, comprising Dearstudio ApS, Sociale Entreprenører i Danmark, Det Turkise Telt and Office U67

The New Neighbour rooftop terrace

Collaborating across professional areas

Moreover, several collaborations with four companies, including workplaces for the companies, have been established. The companies all operate within different professional areas. Some have a connection with Institut for (X) others have a connection with Aarhus School of Architecture.

The four companies that have moved into New Neighbour are Dearstudio ApS, Office U67, Det Turkise Telt and Sociale Entreprenører i Danmark (Social Entrepreneurs in Denmark)

Dearstudio Aps design digital user experience. Office U67 is an architectural practice specialising in exhibition design, interior architecture, the architecture of details, teaching, art direction and research. Office U67 is run by two PhD students, one of whom is from Aarhus School of Architecture.
The Turkise Telt creates total concert experiences in Aarhus. Sociale Entreprenører i Danmark is a nationwide association that works to promote social entrepreneurship in Denmark.

All the users of the New Neighbour office community enter into an agreement with the school to work with the school in a cross-disciplinary manner, e.g. through exhibitions, project work or workshops. In this way, we take advantage of the opportunity to show a clear connection between the education and the profession, while focusing on enterprise and entrepreneurship.

“The purpose of New Neighbour is, first and foremost, to support the core task of the school: teaching. In part by allowing students to follow the construction process from up close, but also by giving them an opportunity to work with the site’s users in an interdisciplinary manner. We also hope that we, a new stakeholder in the area, can show we understand and support the qualities found in the area. But that we also strongly hold on to our own identity”, Kristine Leth Juul explains.