Why Denmark?

Many of my friends were puzzled when I have chosen a small town, up in the north of Denmark, Aalborg, over the ‘city of dreams’ and of great buzz, London. The answer was easy. I wanted to concentrate on my studies, and found it difficult to concentrate surrounded by London's noise, needed a break from the busyness, needed to sort out my thoughts, which I found difficult to do in London. I have made the most of London over the past twelve years and it was the time to move on, to search for a place where there was no buzz, but peace, time to reflect on my experiences, and simply some order to my life. London was great when I needed inspiration and life experience, it was a great platform for inspiration, for networking, and of course, career development. But there was no need for external world to inspire me anymore, my head craved more freedom and space instead and it was wild nature that I felt could bring me more inspiration then megapolis. I was not enjoying any of the city’s pleasures, I have been to many galleries, gigs, concerts, theatre performances and it was not something I was enjoying anymore. I was not enjoying acquiring new relationships every week without anyone wanting to keep their relationships going, I didn’t enjoy feeling that only reasons people would find me interesting and would invite me to their fancy parties only because they found me ‘useful’ in their career climbings. I wanted some more honesty and slower pace of life, where I would have time to work on my projects and concentrate on things that were more meaningful in life.

I was always fascinated by how different Scandinavia is from the rest of the world, colder temperatures also looked attractive to me, as I, being born in Russian Saint-Petersburg, represented a proper northerner. It was also my personal interest in a social political system that Scandinavian countries shared and I was hoping that coming to Denmark to study would help me understand its culture and its people better. I was lucky enough to meet a few Danes before coming to Denmark who were genuinely good people with characteristics I always respected in people, polite, rational, calm, honest and direct.

I have also heard about ‘Danish happiness’ which I thought was more about people themselves and how they saw things rather then about Danish greatness as a country. Danes just know how to appreciate what they have, accept things as they are and feel satisfied with them. My rather confused self craved that sense of order and peace they had in their communities.

They were educational statistics that I was very much impressed with and high rankings in students’ satisfaction. Programs were well designed and were very much personalized. It seemed Danish Universities were interested in educating its students to the highest level and cared about students do well in the future. I have never had this feeling in England, especially while studying in London. In London I thought it was much more materialized, it was more about appearances and self-marketing rather then real knowledge. English professors were very much preoccupied with their own research, they hardly had any time for their students, and of course not for any personal contact with them. Maybe it was just my personal unlucky experience with my particular degree, but that is how I saw things and that is why I did not want to carry on with my future development in England.  

And so the decision was made to come to Aalborg as they had a multi-disciplinary Masters degree that I thought could help me to narrow down my interests and help me choose my future path. It is a great experience I must say, I am learning new things every day, not just from my lectures, but from people around me, from Scandinavian culture, nature and air. I could not be any happier. Sometimes I wonder when I am going to start missing the buzz.. Can’t get enough of that peace, quietness and space.

Louisiana MoMA adventure

After my visit to Helsingør and discovering the wonders of new Culture Centre Kultur Værftet, I took a train to Frederiksbourg. This beautiful town has become home to another cultural spot, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. The town is half-hour train journey from Copenhagen and you can purchase a ticket that will buy you both travelling and the entrance fee (and will save you a few kronas). When walking towards the museum along the coastline, where cliffs and breathtaking views make it into an adventure in itself, I could not stop wondering how unique Denmark is. You would not think of a better place for an art gallery, right next to the sea, to the waves, to the sky. It is all this never ending spacial freedom that we find ourselves surrounded by, that makes this gallery's visit into an unforgettable experience. All galleries that I have attended in London could not compete with their sometimes claustrophobic, windowless, locations, positioned in a way where your brain finds its limits in thinking and creative freedoms. Here you let go of your limitations.You breath in fresh winds and find yourself inspired even before stepping inside the gallery.

You would't think that Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is a big gallery when you enter this falsely small looking village-type house covered in plants that bring that feeling of coziness one might feel at their home garden. Large white space opens right after you enter that building and you realise how mistaken you were about its scale. Corridors lead you onto long but perfectly-timed journeys through exhibitions. Open space and views over the sea follow you throughout your wanderings and it is only occasionally when you stop to think about true dimensions and size of the gallery. It is not the size, but rather the planning, corridors and mazes that fool you into thinking that it is it a rather big building. In reality, it looks tiny from outside, flat, and as if it has grown out of the earth like a mushroom.

 

Kulturvaerftet at Helsingør

On 10.10.10 Helsingør, previously best known for Kronborg (Hamlet's) Castle, has become home to new Culture Centre, Kultur Værftet. The new glass building, overviewing the castle and hosting most wonderful music and artistic events, has been designed by Aarhus based AART Architects and represents one of the latest successes of Danish Design and Architecture. You can see more details on its architectural design on Dezeen website where you also can find some beautiful photography by Adam Mørk. It seems that the agency has followed all the latest trends of environmentally friendly, illumination and energy saving techniques.

Elsinoreøs old shipbuilding yard has been transformed into a 17,000m2 cultural and knowledge centre, including concert halls, showrooms, conference rooms, a dockyard museum and a public library. Agency has received 1st prize in open international architecture competition for their innovative approach.

The centre is a great addition to many other new architectural ambitious developments within Denmark, that are all moving towards 100% sustainability by 2050. Can a small country like Denmark achieve this? Time will show, but with their extremely optimistic, hardworking attitude that can be possible. Denmark is a small country and what they would like to achieve is complete independence from international oil powers. Danish modern economy is mostly built on knowledge-based resources. Setting up such goals Denmark is setting up an excellent example to the world about possibilities of engineering, innovation and development. While others only just starting talking about, Denmark is already doing it.

If you would like to be a part of great movement or just want to learn from the best, then you should consider your education in Denmark. If you are looking for a carrer in architecture, green technologies or innovation, Denmark is a country that can help you achieve your greatest goals and aspirations. It is not just quality education that will benefit you, but it is vast, green spaces filled with clean and smooth architectural styles throughout the country. You will be fascinated by their simplicity, the quality Scandinavian design is very much famous for. As a designer myself, no matter where I go, it is the feeling of order that you get when surrounded by such architecture. Everything has some sort of structure to everything, the whole of Denmark is filled with many beautiful design objects that will keep on inspiring you. The only downside of this is that we all, as humans, get used to good things too fast, and after living here for a while, might stop noticing and appreciating Scandinavian simplicity (many Danes don't see any benefits of this and find it a little 'borring'). I see it as just another perspective of how we view the world, we all build opinions based on our past experiences and on our dreams.

'Denmark by Design' and 'Challenge Innovation' at DDC, Copenhagen

Two excellent exhibitions are held right now in the heart of Copenhagen, at the Danish Design Centre. The Centre was established as a knowledge centre for design. Their primary aim is to help companies grow and develop through the right implementation of design and its strategies. 

First exhibition, taking place on the first and second floors, Challenge Innovation, illustrates how design can lead the way to successful innovation in the area of welfare solutions. Denmark as a country with a well developed welfare system invests large amounts of money in the development of new innovative ways of sustaining its competency levels. The exhibition educates us about challenges that designers are currently facing in order to achieve high levels of efficiency and functionality. Exhibition is a great example of strategic communication between that state, designers and the public. Exhibition strengthens this link through a clever implementation of communication patterns. 

Exhibition displays latest innovations from designers, but also asks a lot of questions about what is it we are all facing in the future, how we can all contribute.. It is a well-designed dialogue that stimulate everyones' thinking and inspires everyone for future developments. Their website perfectly describes its purpose: "Welfare as we know it is under growing pressure, and we need to develop new, innovative solutions – but how do we create innovation that works? Welfare challenges are typically characterised by a high degree of complexity. Solving problems in complex systems requires challenging conventional approaches and adopting a holistic mindset. The designer has the necessary tools and the right mindset for creating innovative and holistic solutions". Exhibition is not only informative in nature, but also functional, which is the case of most Danish installations. The Design Centre uses its space to guide design-driven innovation (the DIN model) and puts it to the test. It is targeted at  private organisations, as well as public sectors, that can potentially guide presented innovation projects to its destination. The space is also a living laboratory, where many seminars and workshops are held to promote design-driven innovations.

Walking through the streets of Copenhagen

There is no other town like Copenhagen: it is a capital, yet rather small (population is 500,000) with unique, scandinavian architecture, tiny brick streets and harbours. It would not feel like a capital even on the busiest day during rush hour, with many bikes cycling by, cars driving quietly, and people walking around. It is the feeling of peace that I find most attractive, the pace of life that people seem to share here. But you should not think that it lacks that noise and fun that we all find so important for city survival - what makes it into a vibrant town is a wide variety of cultural events, from art exhibitions to famous jazz festivals, attracting more and more international guests from all around the world.

The way I like to explore cities, is simply by wandering around streets, getting lost at times, watch people pass by, see life around me as to understand and see deeper into Danish life and culture. It is impossible not to notice bicycles with little trolleys attached in from of them, with a kid, or a couple of them, proudly looking out of them. For a Londoner this might seem shocking at first, but the next day it seems absolutely normal. Cycling culture is very well developed in Copenhagen, where many use bikes as main type of transport. In 2010, 35% of all trips to work or school in Copenhagen were made by bike; for Copenhagen residents, the figure is 50%. 

In Copenhagen, contemporary constructions blend in beautifully with historical buildings and palaces. The cityscape in the centre is dominated by 4-6 storey low-rises rather than the typical glass and steel high-rises found in other capitals.Along the waterfronts and in the district of Ørestad, you will find the results of modern urban planning, such as Mountain Dwellings (VM Bjerget) where the roof of one flat is the garden of another flat.

Hense we see that Copenhagen is a small city where you find a combination of both worlds: it can be looked at as big city with its rich and ever-growing cultural life, and as a small town with its little streets and compact architecture. In my future posts I will cover some of exhibitions and walks in more detail and present you with my personal impressions. Upon them you can construct your own opinion of this beautiful city.