Another year has passed at JAJA Architects. This year we welcomed a lot of new and dedicated members to the team and we worked on new and inspiring projects together with a lot of great studios, clients, and engineers.

Before we leave for the holidays, we would like to share some of the top highlights from 2021 from our Agenda – Mobility, Transformation, and Biomaterials:

MOBILITY

Engaging in the public opinion

In 2021 we have been sharing our Car free(dom) thoughts and visions through several big danish newspapers and media – Berlingske, Zetland, Altinget, and more. The articles gained a lot of traction in the public debate, and we have been pleased with the response from readers and people in the industry. If curious, find some of the articles on the top right (in the bottom if you are reading on telephone).

In late 2021 we also joined Copenhagen Architecture Festival as a part of MorgenDAC / Dansk Arkitektur Center – DAC with a presentation of our Copenhagen Car free(dom) project. The presentation was followed by a really interesting discussion with Mayor of Copenhagen, Sophie Hæstorp Andersen and former Danish transport minister and Liberal Alliance candidate for Copenhagen Municipality, Ole Birk Olesen.

The event was sold-out, recorded and made into a podcast

Reimaging European cities with Voi

During the year we have made several vizualisations together with Voi to show how streets can look like if we prioritize livability in the city and increase the space for cars. The images come from an ongoing series of city renderings we do to visualize how public transportation and car free(dom) can be integrated into popular city areas all over Europe. The cities involved (so far) are Liverpool, Marseille, Stockholm, Berlin, Helsinki, Oslo, Barcelona, and Copenhagen.

Ægirsgade street transformation, Copenhagen

Read more via Voi’s website

The Mobility Pyramid

Inspired by the food pyramid diagram and revamp of it done by Coop, we have taken the liberty to translate it into an easy digestible Mobility Pyramid. Its goal is to promote mobility beyond black and white terms, and instead encourage everyone to “move most from the bottom – least from the top. It’s good for you, your wallet and the environment.”

In 2021 we have seen the pyramid being used by a lot of different people and companies all over the world, and we are very happy to see how the pyramid inspires people to communicate green mobility in a new way.

TRANSFORMATION

Ressource blokken

Together with 3XN/GXN, Regnestuen, Byggeri & Anlæg, and BUILD we have made the demonstration project “Ressource Blokken” that investigates how resources from the 60s and 70s residential buildings can be upcycled in future construction. 

The reason is, that in the coming years, a large number of these homes will be demolished, equivalent to more than 1.3 million m². At the same time, many new buildings must be erected in the affected areas. Ressource Blokken represents a unique possibility for suggesting concrete ways to make this process more circular.  The full work and cases can be found here.

Sustainable transformation in Korneuburg

On the harbourfront in Korneuburg, only a few kilometres from the Vienna city limits, we started helping SIGNA and the city of Korneuburg create a new and attractive neighbourhood for residential and commercial purposes. The development of the former shipyard site, which has been closed since the beginning of the 1990s, is one of the largest real estate projects in Lower Austria in the coming decade.

The development of the shipyard is based on an ambitious sustainability plan. Self-sufficiency is a major focal point, and the goal is to have the energy demand on site covered using sun and water generated electricity only!

We work together on this project with skilled architecture teams from Austria and Scandinavia;  DMAA, Berger + Parkkinen, Maurer & Partner, COBE, and SNØHETTA.

Nypappen

We and our friends from Dyrvik arkitekter and Dronninga landskap won the masterplan competition for Petersontomten – a former industrial site – in Norway!

The masterplan will pioneer the fundamentally sustainable approach of reusing, adapting and transforming before erecting new buildings or producing new materials. It will become a pilot project where existing materials and structures, from the smallest brick to large components and entire buildings, are carefully studied and assessed before deciding on its next stop in the building and material life cycle.

BIOMATERIALS

Working on the ‘Mini CO2’ Multi-Storey House

Together with our friends from ONV Arkitekter we won the competition for Realdania By & Byg’s sustainable five-storey wooden experimental building in Kanalbyen, Fredericia. We are working on the project together with MOE who won the engineers’ competition.

The overall goal of the demonstration projects is to support the construction industry’s reduction of CO2 emissions. The multi-storey housing building will be made as a “mono-material house” where wood is used in as many of the parts of the building as possible. So far this project has been super exciting and challenging to work on, and we hope the end result will lead to inspiration among the construction industry.

Working on Bagsværd Observation Home

In 2021 we have worked intensively on the Bagsværd Observation home project together with Bogl and AB Clausen. The project involves a new extension (in wood) and renovation of a beautiful villa located in Bagsværd, Denmark.

Funded by LIVSVÆRK and supported by Realdania and “Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond” the project is expected to be finished in 2023. We can’t wait to see the final result!

Visiting Havnens Hænder

We are always curious to increase our knowledge within our three fields, and back in October we visited Havnens Hænder to learn about more ways of using biomaterials. It was a very inspiring experience to see how the future of hardware stores will be. The atmosphere inside was amazing, and we’re convinced that this wasn’t our last visit at this magical place!