Within the framework of the city’s spaces, intimate spheres blend with public ones. The rhythm of the day and year is imperative to life in these spaces and the experience of them. Design complementing the city’s spaces, for example street furniture, signage and lighting is of great importance to how one perceives the spaces, and influences our movements and activities in these spaces.
Copenhagen has plenty of beautiful public squares and pedestrianized streets, but the weather is often cloudy, rainy, cold, and windy. Although the city has a goal to create outdoor public spaces that can be used year round, they have not yet developed a strategy to reach this goal.
"My Urban Interior" follows the narrow curved path of Swinget, a former railway running through the Amager district of Copenhagen. Specific interventions hinge on curved walls that line the path of the former railway. These interventions create rooms where people can stop along the way to warm up, get out of the wind, or get some much needed bright-light therapy on the dark winter days.
The walls have a combination of the following features:
A: BRIGHT LIGHT THERAPY
Almost 15% of residents in Nordic regions suffer from S.A.D - Seasonal Affective Disorder. People with S.A.D. feel an overwhelming sense of lethargy and depression in the winter months.
Light triggers the release of hormones that wake us up. Light therapy is used in the treatment of S.A.D. but is effective for anyone experiencing a decrease of energy.
B: RAINWATER FEATURESCopenhagen sees an average of 181 days per year with at least 1mm of precipitation. To take advantage of this free water, rainfall is redirected from the down-drains of the surrounding buildings into green filtration channels on site, which cleanse the water and make it useable for fountains, splashpools, dog-wash stations, and ice-skating.
C: RADIANT SEATINGDirectly underneath Swinget is a new underground parking garage and one line of the Copenhagen Metro. The exhaust from these underground pockets is always warmer than the outside air. Passing through filters that remove harmful particulates, the warm air is drawn via pipe into stone benches to create radiant seating.
D: EVERGREEN WALLS
Although Copenhagen is considered a green city it has surprisingly few street trees, and even fewer coniferous species. Evergreen walls--green walls planted with hardy spreading coniferous plants--not only provide a green respite on the grey winter days, but provide an insulated space and give off pleasant aromas: Juniper, Cedar, Balsam Fir, and Canadian Hemlock.
