"Kids' City" exhibition is opens the architecture world looking child-centric
30/01/2020.
Danish Architecture Center [Copenhagen] Denmark
metalocus, JOAN MARSET
metalocus, JOAN MARSET
With Denmark ranked as one of the best countries in the world to raise a child and Copenhagen as one of the best places to live in the world. The Danish Architecture Center will open its doors on February 7th to an exhibition on innovation in child-centric architecture and construction called Kids' City.
But what makes a destination or city a good place to live and spend time in? Is it good day-care options, super bikeways, harbor baths, pleasant plazas, fun playgrounds, and beautiful towers? Is it being able to ride your bike to school and having easy and free access to a good hospital if you become ill?
But what makes a destination or city a good place to live and spend time in? Is it good day-care options, super bikeways, harbor baths, pleasant plazas, fun playgrounds, and beautiful towers? Is it being able to ride your bike to school and having easy and free access to a good hospital if you become ill?
KU.BE. a house of culture and movement. An example of architecture for active play. Architects: ADEPT and MVRDV, 2016. Frederiksberg, Copenhagen. Photograph by Adam Mørk.
Bike Snake, Copenhagen V, 2014 DISSING+WEITLING
Kindergarten, Frederiksberg, COBE, 2015. Photograph by Rasmus Hjortshøj
Kids' City. Photograph courtesy of Danish Architecture Center
Danish Architecture Center’s exhibition “Kids’ City” takes a closer look at how a “good city” can be experienced by both children and adults. After all, a city that can accommodate the youngest members of our society can, in principle, accommodate everyone. It is all about creating a city that is accommodating and well-balanced, and about the development of the welfare state and community, making the city so much more than just buildings and cars.
Making Architecture More Accessible
Kids’ City starts with miniature versions of some of the landmarks that characterize Copenhagen. The exhibition encourages fun and play in a sensory universe in the form of a village of giant chairs, upside down houses, squares and snake-shaped bike bridges. It also investigates what makes Copenhagen such an attractive city – so attractive, in fact, that other cities from around the world come here seeking inspiration.
Kids’ City
At Kids’ City, you can play, build and burn some energy while learning about the city’s shapes, figures, sounds and scales. The exhibition features some of the best installations and locations we know. For instance, you can slide down a miniature version of Bjarke Ingels’ CopenHill, explore scale with mini- and maxi-furniture in the tree house designed by COBE architectural studio, and monkey around on Adept’s flexible climbing frame. You can also explore Camp Adventure’s tower and listen to the city’s many sounds through earphones and try to guess where they come from. You can see how the city’s public spaces have developed and get a sneak preview of what Children’s Hospital Copenhagen, BørneRiget – a new hospital for children, adolescents and pregnant women – will look like. And you can set your inner urban planner free and help build a city in Minecraft, in LEGO or using pen and paper.
The Municipal Architect Presents Copenhagen
For adults, a visual band along the exhibition walls presents the ideas and thoughts behind the installations and areas created by several architectural and design studios, including COBE, 3XN, EFFEKT, ADEPT, BIG Architects, Dissing+Weitling and MONSTRUM. There are also a number of audio stories about what makes Copenhagen a special city for children and adults, and about the role children play in architecture and urban development – all told by Camilla van Deurs, Municipal Architect for the City of Copenhagen.
In other words, Kids’ City offers something for everyone – for those who live in the city and are curious to learn more about it, for those who are visiting the city for the first time, and of course for those who just want to play.
Kids’ City starts with miniature versions of some of the landmarks that characterize Copenhagen. The exhibition encourages fun and play in a sensory universe in the form of a village of giant chairs, upside down houses, squares and snake-shaped bike bridges. It also investigates what makes Copenhagen such an attractive city – so attractive, in fact, that other cities from around the world come here seeking inspiration.
Kids’ City
At Kids’ City, you can play, build and burn some energy while learning about the city’s shapes, figures, sounds and scales. The exhibition features some of the best installations and locations we know. For instance, you can slide down a miniature version of Bjarke Ingels’ CopenHill, explore scale with mini- and maxi-furniture in the tree house designed by COBE architectural studio, and monkey around on Adept’s flexible climbing frame. You can also explore Camp Adventure’s tower and listen to the city’s many sounds through earphones and try to guess where they come from. You can see how the city’s public spaces have developed and get a sneak preview of what Children’s Hospital Copenhagen, BørneRiget – a new hospital for children, adolescents and pregnant women – will look like. And you can set your inner urban planner free and help build a city in Minecraft, in LEGO or using pen and paper.
The Municipal Architect Presents Copenhagen
For adults, a visual band along the exhibition walls presents the ideas and thoughts behind the installations and areas created by several architectural and design studios, including COBE, 3XN, EFFEKT, ADEPT, BIG Architects, Dissing+Weitling and MONSTRUM. There are also a number of audio stories about what makes Copenhagen a special city for children and adults, and about the role children play in architecture and urban development – all told by Camilla van Deurs, Municipal Architect for the City of Copenhagen.
In other words, Kids’ City offers something for everyone – for those who live in the city and are curious to learn more about it, for those who are visiting the city for the first time, and of course for those who just want to play.
More information
Venue / Adress
DANISH ARCHITECTURE CENTER. Bryghuspladsen 10, 1473 Copenhagen. Denmark.
Dates
February 7 to May 10, 2020.
