title: New AARCH – New Symbiosis
location: Aarhus, Netherland
use: Architecture School
size: 13000 sqm
competition period: 2016
The typology of the historic city of Aarhus follows a grid plan consisting of row houses and courtyard blocks. In avoiding an inward facing organization that protects its contents, the proposal for the new Aarhus School of Architecture (AARCH) is to reverse this protective model and to engage the city and the outside world.
The new school is designed with extroverted finger-like projections that protrude outward and between walls. The concept creates an increased surface area that makes available greater connection to the city, nature, and people. It physically and socially engages and forges a symbiotic relationship with new and old. The inclusion of all these factors ensures a sustainable and intelligent design. It creates diversity and promotes cooperation, allowing adaptation between traditional and innovative. This dynamic new school and its amorphous form suggest a relation towards the environment while the democratic openness defends a new way of connecting with a diverse audience.