In Fall 2020 arki_lab together with BOGL and WISSENBERG were invited to put forth a proposal for a new university plaza (Kemitorvet) at DTU campus in Lyngby. Even though we didn’t win the competition our proposal came in strong with a lot of positive feedback from the jury.

The competition was to create an academic identity of the new plaza that would connect to the adjacent campus. Our role in the proposal was among other things to qualify what “an academic identity” meant in the specific context of DTU. This meant a deep dive into the literature of academic practices and understanding of the daily life at DTU campus.

In close collaboration with BOGL we aimed to translate those insights into a landscape design that would allow for both festive events and day-to-day use. We wanted to create a space that allowed for that experimental and creative playfulness that characterize the state-of-the-art research happening at DTU.

The concept focused on creating numerous small and informal meeting spaces within a lush and green plaza that still kept an international campus feeling. Curved passages, raised edges and crevices in the green landscape would allow for researchers, students and staff alike to extend their meeting and workspace into the outdoors. These informal meeting spaces would create a “coffee machine effect” which allowed for incidental encounters between the different faculties surrounding the plaza. Small glass pavilions would facilitate the more formal meeting while adding a distinctive look to the overall landscape of the plaza.

We hope that by sharing this project we inspire others to consider working with playfulness and informal meeting spaces in their landscape design.

All credit of detailing the project proposal goes to BOGL.