The new “Aarhus School of Architecture” is designed to create a new hybrid layout where a contemporary architectural typology plays with existing old buildings. The project is conceived as a volume that “jumps” over an old brick warehouse creating an original approach to preservation and also organizing exterior and interior functions.
This deformation generates an outdoor path from one side to the other and at the same time creates two different levels in the interior space. At the lower level are placed common facilities, such as workshops, exhibition, shops and a civic kitchen, where students and citizens easily meet each other, while at the upper level are meeting rooms, offices, administration, staff and storage.
The sloping surface is used for the most representative and characteristic space: a huge “Urban steps”. This works as a filter between common and private spaces where are located the auditorium for lecturing, the hall for teaching and presenting, the M-lab and the and the workspaces for showing to visitors what students research and how they work.
The warehouse is reformed and used for the residencies of artists, craftmen and temporary visitors. In this way the function of the residencies are kept detached from the activities of the school. The new university preserves the industrial heritage of the area and create a new urban reality for the city. Source by Paolo Venturella.
- Location: Aarhus, Denmark
- Architect: Paolo Venturella
- Project Team: Cosimo Scotucci
- Type: Competition
- Year: 2016
- Images: Courtesy of Paolo Venturella
