TOPOTEK 1: Superkilen is a heterogenous site-collage in a dense, centrally located neighborhood in Copenhagen. The strongly international quarter with a mix of different cultures is to be revitalized using open space as a physical framework. This space is to be propelled beyond its current role as a mono-functional transit area into being innovative and dense with sychronicities. Accordingly, the concept aims at enhancing the diverse characters within the site, creating a black square, a red square and a green park. Further, in the way of a dialogue with the realities of Superkilen, the design reattributes motifs from garden-history.

In the garden, the translocation of an ideal, the reproduction of a another place, such as a far off landscape, is a common theme through time. Where the historic Chinese garden features miniature rock formations of famous mountain ranges, the Japanese zen garden abstracts the sea into waves of gravel. The historic gardens in Florence or Versaille are loaden with allegorical depictions and the historic English landscape garden showcases replications of Greek ruins. We propose to employ a contemporary, an urban version of a universal garden. Familiar, yet surprising. At Superkilen, a new transfer of significant elements from other places is to give meaning and ambiance. Simultaneously, this transfer will reflect and engage the quarter’s urban reality. The furnishing and equipment of Superkilen will be a compilation from an international catalogue of elements, including international billboards and light-advertisement. The flashing neon advertisement for a Japanese pachinko parlour astonishes analogous to historic chinoseries, while telephone cells from Latinamerica create the flicker of an illusion of a beach promenade.

Project: Urban Revitalization Superkilen Copenhagen (Denmark)
Team: TOPOTEK 1, BIG Bjarke Ingels Group, Superflex
Location: Norrebro, Copenhagen (Denmark)
Client: Realdania and the Community of Copenhagen.
Planning: 2007
Size: 39.000 m2
Photography: Iwan Baan, Torben Eskerod, Hanns Joosten, Mike Magnussen

The project Superkilen in Copenhagen was honored within the Institute Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design by the National AIA Awards 2013.