For two years, we facilitated architecture classes at Johannes High School in Copenhagen. The first year students came up with different design proposals for spaces around the school. Afterwards, in 2016, we established a project where the students were to build a new social gathering space. The idea was to transform an unused area into an open and multifunctional space that could give the students an outside area for chilling and outdoor teaching. Through seminars, workshops and the use of different tools in our toolbox, the students became the designers and created the perfect urban space to fit their everyday needs. The project was interdisciplinary, involving biology, social studies and English. But most importantly the students achieved skills outside of the school curriculum. Moving from a theoretical to a practical level they learned by doing, helping build the site! And why not use the transformation of the site as part of a learning process?

Integrating Sustainability
Sustainability was a core component of the project. We had a fruitful collaboration with the Goldmine - an experiment started by Copenhagen Municipality and Amager Resource Centre that operates the city’s recycling centres. The Goldmine has 12 start-up companies working within a circular economy, where resources and raw materials become part of the value chain again and again. We wanted to equip the students with the right “recycled glasses” through which to look at the project. A part of the process was a workshop at the Goldmine, where the students explored materials and found inspiration.