Medborgerhus means culture house in Danish. The project was completed in the summer of 2022 when I spent the summer studying Scandinavian design in Copenhagen. This was the first project where I had the opportunity to fully hand draft every element of the project, it was a really rewarding process. Medborgerhus is a culture house located in an old tram house in the center of Copenhagen. The site for this project was a barn for old Copenhagen tram cars, when it was constructed. The culture house leans into the history of the site by utilizing two old Copenhagen tram cars as well as implementing a track system throughout the entire space. On the track elements such as planters, cook surfaces, dining tables, walls, and the tram cars can be moved through the space. The tracks allow for the narrative of the Culture House to be determined by the occupants and it also creates community, as most of the moving parts will need more than two people to push them along the tracks. The ground floor houses three community kitchens with one of them being on a tram car. The kitchen tram car can be moved on the tracks to the plaza outside to interact with the community. The other tram car is a dining space for the kitchens and the rest of the ground floor acts as a flexible community space. The upper level houses a public library and a private publishing house. The track space is implemented in the publishing house so that employers can choose how to set up their work environment. The bookshelves of the library have sliding doors with reading seats hidden behind them. Daylight is an important factor in Danish design due to the lack of it during certain times of the year, so daylight is implemented in the space through large skylights. The harshness of the direct light can be diminished through a sail that is operated by a pulley system, the users can determine how much direct light is let into the space. Overall, this project uses the history of the site and the implementation of a track system and movable elements to create a changeable space for the whole community.
