The main idea of the Ørsteds Haver project is to create a holistic environmental, social and architectural counterpoint to the pragmatic renovations carried out all over Denmark, which often have a one-sided focus on energy. For a sustainable future, it is not enough that we build sustainably alone. We will also need visionary methods to transform and adapt our existing building mass to the needs of the future to extend their use and lifetime. This is relevant not only for our architectural heritage worthy of preservation but perhaps even more so for the less attractive or even hated houses in our cities like this much-debated 1960s building by Ole Hagen.

Ørsteds Haver is an example of a project that has taken a generic facade renovation in a different direction, thereby future-proofing a strongly criticized building to the benefit of the environment, the residents and the surrounding urban space. Ørsteds Haver developed from an ordinary facade renovation, which was supposed to prevent the ingress of water on the open swallow corridors and reduce noise from the road to a drastic rethinking of the building's shared, semi-private and private living areas - in addition to a radical change of the building's relationship to H.C. Ørstedsvej. There are private living areas on the outside of the corridor on glass-covered terraces. The main idea behind this approach is to create a new kind of social space where the residents of the house can meet each other in a way that is random, immediate and with high frequency.

Ørsteds Haver was created in a collaboration between Tegnestuen LOKAL, the owners' association, Salling Group and Amstrup & Baggesen, who together created the possibilities for the project to succeed. Before the renovation, the building was among the least liked in Frederiksberg and was called Frederiksberg's ugliest facade by the residents themselves. The project received Renoverprisen in 2021.

Tickets: 30 kr./free for CAFx Community members

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'Make Do With Now' Event Programme:

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6 October 16–19:
Exhibition Opening: Make Do with Now – Meet the Curators and Drinks

‍CAFx invites you to the opening of the exhibition Make Do with Now: New Directions in Japanese Architecture with drinks and introductions by the curators from Swiss Architecture Museum.

13 October 18–00
Kulturnatten: Generation Transformation

An evening of transformation with Pihlmann Architects.

25 October 16–17
Renovation 2.0: Site visit to Ørsteds Haver with LOKAL

Join the architectural office LOKAL for a site visit to their prize-winning renovation of the façade of Ørsteds Haver in Frederiksberg, taking the renovation of a 1960s 'eyesore' building to a new level.

26 October 16.30–18.30
Japanese Architecture between Tradition and Transformation

How does the ‘Generation Renovation’ of younger Japanese offices relate to the traditions and history of Japanese architecture? 

2 November 16.30–18.30
Salon Transformation: New Values of a New Generation in Danish Architecture

Join us for an exploration of how younger Danish architects make do with now, transforming and renovating the existing structures rather than making grand gestures from scratch.

16 November 16.30–18.30
‍Architectural potentials in a resource perspective - Panum & Kappel studio visit and lecture

The young architectural office Panum & Kappel invites you to a studio visit at their Vesterbro-based office, where they will tell about their circular construction principles, showing models of radical transformation experiments exhibited at Utzon Centre's recent Super Danish exhibition.

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