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DAS ANDERE

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DAS ANDERE

Entering Aalborg some centuries ago, one could find a small borough on the Fjord where fishermen and merchants established a trading post towards the northern seas traffics.The castle, churches, squares, cemeteries and custom, shaped the identity of old Aalborg.As years went on the activities evolved into more productive purpos-es. Caves of cement were dug, manufactures appeared along with the railway and the harbour increased its size and efficiency.It was in this period that the city mostly developed, with large areas dedicated to house the growing working class. At the beginning of 20th Century Vestbyen was born: cheap dense constructions of vari-ous typologies set up trough time a paradigmatic workers’ neighbour-hood.In that times the city could easily identify itself with the daily routine of industrial production. The red bricks and the factories’ chimneys composed the horizon of Vestbyen.Nonetheless, at the turn of the century, fast global economic changes deprived Aalborg of its role in the industrial realm, and Vestbyen lost its certainties, whether they’re good or not.A shift in imagery was urgently needed.The city wanted to be an iconic cultural venue, but had to deal with its own past, looking for a balance to re-imagine its future.As identity builds up on collective memory, new memories had to be introduced. An alternative narrative of open possibilities started to shape the new Vestbyen.

VESTBYEN

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DAS ANDERE

Entering Aalborg from the south, turning left to Vestbyen, one would nowadays certainly notice the complex of tall buildings known as The Hospital. In fact, it used to be an university hospital. Most of its buildings still show the traces of the intricate links that connected each other into a network of hallways and gangways. This links don’t exist anymore, but the main constructions are preserved: tall con-crete towers testimonial of modernistic aspirations closely face small pitched-roof block houses, remainings of older times. The Hospital is nowadays a vibrant mixed use city block. Here one meets grandmas shopping groceries, small kids playing football in the car free area, students laying down and, only in lucky, sunny days, community din-ners on the inner square: in any case, communal rooms are located in the new extended houses, where in cold days all can enjoy togeth-er. Every now and then, one can hear the sound: apparently conveyed by the dense forest behind the slabs, trains declare their transit and schedule the time of the day.Going further into the area an overcrowded pedestrian bridge leads across the railway, here students of all ages go to the many school on the other side. From the landing of the bridge, a grand passage cuts trough the tallest tower and opens into an urban plaza place were ambulances were once screaming into the emergency rooms.Here, the real entrance to the city block, passers by are welcomed in.

THE HOSPITAL

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DAS ANDERE

Close to the water, at the crossing point with the railway where it jumps over the fjord to the northern shore, there once was a huge distillery, smoking out vapour for the joy of happy drinkers and not. The distillery is still there, in its entire mass, it’s not working any-more but one can sometimes smell the vague scent of alcohol while getting lost in the amazing jungle of tubes and silos. The smell of alcohol could actually be more than a psychological suggestion, as right on the other side of the building parties usually happen. The distillery is nowadays a multifaceted incubator of diverse activities: cutting edge enterprises, start-ups, artist studios and workshops, bars and restaurants, stores and clubs take advantage of the huge spaces made available all of a sudden. The rust-chic appeal of this place beckoned young people from all over to enjoy the greater degree of informality and openness. Approaching the site from the opposite direction though, one can barely notice the factory for its tall chimneys, there a luxuriant park spans from the street to the water where people take sunbaths or read a book in their quietness. Here wooden decks host bar tables in the warm season and a long, gentle arcade shelters a passage to the other side: people call it The Viaduct, while bridging the rails on its top, it puts the premises for a public place to happen underneath. A place where Nature meets a most impactive artefact: like yin and yang they cooperate to create a greater unity.

THE VIADUCT

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DAS ANDERE

The Haraldslund is an historic spot in Vestbyen. Since its opening it has been impressed in the memory of the citizens who spent long days in its swimming pool or at the library. On the other side of the block, the Nordjyske Arena was background to the great deeds of Aalborg BK, like when it became the first Danish football team to compete in UEFA Champions League. There once was a half hidden connection between the Haraldslund and stadium, whereas to-day one finds a grand boulevard stretching from the square with the tram stop on Kastetvej directly to the stadium. What from outside appears to be a block of single family houses with many trees and tennis courts, reveals in its back an unexpected monumentality: here the entrance to the Haraldslund pool, the entrance to the arena and a multi-story parking enclose a formal square slightly sunken in the terrain. Unworried of being right in the middle of a residential area, people practice the most unusual sports and creative activities: rolling skating that becomes ice skating in wintertime, street dance, parcour, graffiti, polo, squash, and whatever new sport might be in-vented find their space in what is known as The Back Court. A deeper observation reveals that the parking is actually not only a parking but also an empty structure that is filled up by alternative activities that negotiate their schedule with the cars, thus undoing any expected utilitarian character.An intensification of big scale amenities beyond the backyards of anonymous houses, The Back Court supports everyone’s back fanta-sies.

THE BACK COURT

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DAS ANDERE

While reaching the edge of Vestbyen along Kastetvej everyone can enjoy the opening of the street into the harbour. The avenue seam-lessly blend into perpendicular streets that lead towards the water; looking on the side one can glance into the communal gardens where inhabitants are maybe growing their vegetables in the greenhouse or repairing a bike in the shared workshop. Leaving the houses back, the harbour appears in its extension, just few steps across the road where The Pier building defines the protected area of the docks. No one believes that such a pleasant, crowded waterfront used to be an underused space. In fact, back in times, an empty lawn was put alongside the busy street, making a strong border to the waterfront, and the absence of a real street scape discouraged any attempt of appropriation.The large promenade that nowadays pairs the street instead, makes people willing to cross to enjoy the closeness with water. The road is not a barrier anymore. On the perpendicular direction, the extra-large pavement connects the park on the east with the new leisure facil-ities on the west, thus being always populated of passers walking from one direction to the other and cars stopping.Starting from The Pier, low, deep wall, designs a new border that in-stead of separating put the precondition for connecting: here people meet, sits on the wall and on its steps, lay on the wall enjoying the sun or drink a cup of wine admiring the sunset.

THE PIER

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THE ANDERE ALTERNATIVE NARRATIVES FOR NEW MEMORIES

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