An automaton librarian and a robot that drives away seagulls – Meet DOKK1, or how the Danes see sustainable and democratic public space (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Anyone who has had the opportunity to travel to Denmark for any reason has probably noticed a few things very quickly - a very changeable weather, numerous cyclists, many streets of Copenhagen that seem to be frozen in time with their picturesque facades... In addition to all that, in this country in the continent’s north, after staying there for just a few days, something else catches your eye, something that has been insisted on for years in the countries of the European Union and beyond, and that is sustainability.

In both Copenhagen and other cities and parts of Denmark, including Aarhus, the second largest city in this country, and the largest one when it comes to the mainland part of the country. There as well, as in the capital of this country, the daily weather conditions are a lottery, cyclists are highly respected in traffic, and colorful facades are also present at every turn... Sustainability? Yes, in this city, too, they insist on it. One of the architecturally very prominent representatives and the pride of Aarhus when it comes to sustainability is the Dokken Cultural Center or simply DOKK1, a cultural center building that houses a public library, a municipal service center, a theater stage and numerous other facilities. But, when they step in front of this building, without any prior knowledge about it, many people, especially from our area, would probably say: “The Danes also have social realism and brutalism!” And... they would be wrong. Because DOKK1 is an example of the fact that “you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” that is, the fact that this building, unlike some others in Aarhus, has no facade decorations, but facade concrete and glass, is not an example of brutalism and energy inefficiency, but everything the opposite of that.

It was not built in the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s, as its exterior might suggest, but rather only ten years ago as part of the development of the wider Urban Media Space Aarhus project, namely, the transformation of the former industrial port in Aarhus.

The construction of the building, based on the architectural concept of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects and Kristine Jensen, began in 2011 and was completed in early summer of 2015.

– We are in a beautiful place, although sometimes that beauty does not consist of ornamentation. You passed by the City Hall, which, like DOKK1, is a very controversial building. Both are modernist, although they were built in different periods, the City Hall in the 1940s, and DOKK1 ten years ago. Both have clean lines, without elements on the facade, people may think they are ugly, but when you visit DOKK1 you will understand why this building is so interesting and important, above all its design and its elements – the guide Rocio Ramirez gave us a hint.

Behind the minimal facade is a story of automation, inclusiveness and integration

The construction of DOKK1, which covers an area of about 60,000 square meters, cost around 300 million EUR, and the fact that such an investment was well worth it is shown by the experience that the residents of Aarhus have with this place, who describe this cultural center as a city hub, a beacon of modern and sustainable architecture.

And when you step into this building, even to an uninitiated visitor, it quickly becomes clear that this is a large library, not only the main one in Aarhus, but officially the largest in Denmark. And that’s where the story begins not only about books of different genres, which are here not only in Danish and English, but also in other languages (including those from the Balkans), but also about sustainability, automation, inclusion and smart solutions - which are present in this building at every turn.



While a group of journalists from Serbia, who visited Denmark as part of the Pulse of Europe, a media visit project funded by the EU, were getting their first pieces of information about this building, behind our backs a girl was returning the books she had read. But not to the librarian, but - to an automaton. Because, in this cultural center, books are returned by placing them in a specific place on a machine, which then scans them, pulls them in and arranges them where they should go, sorts them into different baskets, and then library employees carry them farther depending on where they should be left.

When it comes to accessibility and availability to all residents of Aarhus, this was also taken into account in the DOKK1 building, so the machine for returning books is a little lower than one might expect, but this is precisely so that people in wheelchairs can use it without any problems.

It’s similar with other facilities in this building - the book ordering counter, tables, information desks - there are both higher and lower ones, in accordance with the different needs of visitors. Therefore, it is clear that in this building, both elevators and toilets are adapted for people with disabilities, as well as space for passing between bookshelves, precisely so that people with disabilities in every sense and in every part of the building have a feeling of inclusion and integration.

As for integration, the DOKK1 building also has a Siri AI assistant system, which in this case is designed as an immigration service. For example, if someone has come to Denmark to work or live and is not from the EU, they can go to the Siri assistant which will help them obtain a work permit and other necessary things. Not far from there, DOKK1 also has a municipal service center where citizens can get documents or schedule a wedding.

– The idea of this space is not only to be a library, but in every sense a public space, a gathering place for citizens, so we jokingly call it a public square. That is why it is designed as a kind of community center, accessible to everyone – says Rocio Ramirez.

Within DOKK1, in another part of the building, there is also one of the studios of the Danish DR (public service), which most often produces weather forecasts and sports. This studio was also designed with the idea of transparency and connectivity, so it is not hidden but surrounded by transparent glass surfaces. The idea of democracy: “We have nothing to hide from the citizens.”

In the building of the cultural center there are also spaces for those who need silence and relaxation, a space for parents to play with their children, but also zones for the blind. These are well-defined, clearly marked areas in the center, where blind people can stand, hear where they are, what is around them, and the like...



Sustainability at every step and an oversight regarding seagulls

When it comes to functionality and sustainability, this building is guided by the idea of energy saving, or rather the idea that guides the whole of Denmark. When it was constructed, the idea was to use only natural materials, or rather those that can be recycled - wood, glass, steel and concrete.

The building was also designed with the idea of “capturing” as much natural light as possible, which is why it has a lot of transparent surfaces. In addition, smart lighting was also implemented in the sense that built-in sensors register at all times how much natural light comes from outside and how much, accordingly, additional light should be used in the building itself. In other words, more artificial light is needed in the evening hours, and significantly less during the day. If there is no one in the room, the lighting is automatically turned off (for example, if no one is in the toilet, it is completely dark until someone steps in).

This idea is also followed by the design of the building. In winter, when it is not particularly sunny, it is very important that there are windows on all sides of the building through which natural light enters. On the other hand, there is a lot of natural light during the summer. Fortunately, due to the climate conditions in Denmark, not much energy has to be used to cool the space, because the summers are not too hot. And when some cooling is still needed during the summer, this building uses what nature has given to Aarhus, in this case seawater. This water is certainly suitable for such a thing because it is certainly not anywhere near as warm as the seawater in the Mediterranean.

In the DOKK 1 building, almost anything visible that looks like a purely decorative element is not just that. Thus, the perforated panels on the ceiling in this building serve not only as decoration, but are also functionally important - to hide electrical and other installations and pipes, and again for practical reasons, so that if some work needs to be carried out, the panels can be removed in order to carry out the work, and to avoid drilling, breaking walls and other elements of the building’s structure. That’s also a part of the idea of sustainability in this building, if something needs to be fixed, if something is leaking or if there’s a renovation, you just move the panels, do what’s needed and then put them back. Likewise, the wooden wall cladding is not there without reason. Since the building is huge, acoustics were taken into account, in order to avoid the echo effect, or achieve the “mute effect.”

When the building was being raised, it was clear that its roof would be extremely large and that there would be a lot of space on it that needed a practical purpose, so it was used for solar panels, to produce energy for the entire building. But, no matter how much thought was given to sustainability and smart solutions when this building was being raised, as is the case with any other building, some small details that can cause big problems slip out of mind. In this case - seagulls. As the building was raised next to the harbor and the sea, there are many seagulls there every day that tend to “relieve” themselves on the solar panels that occupy just under 2,500 square meters. In order to solve this unforeseen problem in a humane and technologically smart way, a robot was constructed that now moves around the roof of the building and drives away the seagulls.

What children associate with the world

On each side of the entrance plaza in DOKK1 there are sculptures that are associated with some part of the world or another, and the children decided which sculptures would be made and placed. For example, the associations for children were an eagle for America, a monkey and drawings they associate with hieroglyphs for Africa, a dragon for Asia, a volcano for Iceland, and a bear for Russia and Eastern Europe... And that’s how these sculptures were arranged, in accordance with the sides of the world where these countries and continents are located.

– The idea was to create works of art that could be used as a playground, for children to experience art in a practical way. That art is not only to be seen, but also to be felt, to be inclusive for children – explains Rocio Ramirez.

The largest cylindrical bell in the world that announces new life

The DOKK1 building also houses the largest cylindrical bell in the world. Apart from being a decorative element, this work of art by Kirstine Roepstorff also has a practical purpose. When a child is born at the Aarhus University Hospital, the parents can press a button there and send a signal to the DOKK1 building, where a cylindrical bell announces the arrival of a new life.

Automated parking

Every corner of this building implements smart solutions, and so under the DOKK1 building there is an automated parking space for 1,000 cars, according to Ramirez, the largest of its kind in Europe. At first glance, this parking lot looks like many others in public garages - with a toll booth and ramps. But that’s where any similarity ends. Because when the driver arrives at a free space to leave their car, that’s where the real story of this automated garage begins.

The principle of operation is such that, when the driver parks their car in one of the twenty or so free spaces, they take all the necessary things from it and lock it, exit the space and check in. At the parking space where the car is, a metal curtain is lowered, and then the car is lowered into a kind of parking shaft where the vehicles are automatically assigned to free parking spaces. When the owner returns to pick up the vehicle and checks in, they receive information about the exact location where their car will be picked up. In all this time that the parking lot has been in operation, as we were told, there has only been one accident, when for an unknown reason the trunk of a car, while it was in that parking space with 1,000 spaces, suddenly opened.

VIDEO

A reminder of the port-related past

A bronze sculpture of Poseidon, the god of the sea, has been erected near DOKK1, the only sculpture in Aarhus that citizens can climb. The idea behind the sculpture is to remind us of the past of that part of Aarhus, which looks very different than it did ten or more years ago when it was an industrial port. The Poseidon of Aarhus also reminds us of the power of nature, of the power of the sea that shaped that space. The old customs building not far from DOKK1 also reminds of that port-related past, as does the house in the immediate vicinity that served as offices for the DOKK1 architectural team. The idea was for the architects to follow the emergence of their architectural masterpiece every day.

The combination of the old and the new is not a problem if they are architecturally well intertwined. However, in the immediate vicinity of DOKK 1, from which a view opens up to the old city buildings and the new plaza along the docks, a little farther on you can also see a new residential area with the currently tallest tower in Denmark, the so-called Lighthouse. And that Aarhus Waterfront, when you look at the transformation of that part of the city from the DOKK1 building, is the only thing that spoils the impression and stands out from everything else.

Dejan Aleksic

Dokken Cultural Center

DOKK 1

Urban Media Space Aarhus

DR

Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects

Kristine Jensen

Aarhus

Rocio Ramirez

Kirstine Roepstorff

Pulse of Europe