SUPERKILEN

Mission: To create a true alternative scene to the remaining urban space of Copenhagen.

Integration machines
Superkilen is located in the heart of outer Nørrebro, which has a local population from 57 different cultures. The urban project is conceived as a machine of integration across ethnicity, religion, culture and languages.

57 everyday objects from 57 cultures are considered as a mean for integrating Superkilen in the world and the world in Superkilen. The objects are symbols for everyday experiences from 57 different cultures. A foreign everyday practice incorporated outside its normal context. As in Marcel Duchamp’s Objet Trouvé it is ordinary everyday objects, which stand out as work of art when exposed in a new context and on a new background. They make people think about how we organize our daily life and together they make up a global vernacular.

Three zones three colors – one district
The conceptual point of departure is a division of Superkilen into three zones with three different identity shaping colors: green, black and red.
The different surfaces and colors of the area are integrated in a way where they together and alone establish a setting for the diverse objects, which are chosen by the citizens.

Sports – at the Red Square
Bauman once said that “sport is one of the few institutions in society, where people can still agree on the rules”. No matter where you’re from, what you believe and which language you speak, it is always possible to play football together. In continuation of the sports activities at Nørrebro Gym, the Red Square is considered an urban expansion of the indoor activities of Nørrebro Gym. As an integration machine, the different sports fields at the Red Square give the local community an opportunity to meet over physical activities and games, which everyone can agree upon.

Children – in the Green Park
In spite of the fact that adults and youth from different cultures find the integration process difficult, children can almost always meet and play across linguistic and cultural barriers. The activities at the Green Park are – with its soft hills and facing – is focused on children and families with young children. A green landscape and a playground, where families with children can meet for picnics, sunbathing and entertainment in the grass. Already now, it is mostly people from foreign cultures who use the parks along Strandvejen – the Green Park will provide the setting for a similar public life in the heart of Nørrebro.

Bazaar – at the Black Market
The globalization as such has evolved due to international trade with goods and services. Several of the most successful integration projects in Denmark – especially Bazaar West in Aarhus – are based on markets and trade. A social and economic institution, which is widespread in many parts of the world. But due to supermarkets and discount they have almost disappeared in Denmark.

The Black Market provides the setting for an urban market, which can attract visitors from all over Copenhagen and its surroundings in the weekends {ie. the weekend market at Blaak in Rotterdam}. An occasion for visitors to come to outer Nørrebro and have a positive experience. During the week, permanent tables and benches will serve as a kind of urban living room for e.g. backgammon-, chess players and others.

2008