the Vision of BispeBjerg Bakke - Realdania Byg

Interview with Marie Vinther,
MA in Art History
Marie Vinther graduated with a master’s
thesis titled: ‘Dreaming of a beautiful building
– an analysis of the Bispebjerg Bakke
architectural project’. With the very ambitious
ideas and goals presented in the
Bispebjerg Bakke project as her starting
point, she investigated how the original
visions related to the actual construction
process. Marie Vinther followed Bispebjerg
Bakke right from the beginning and she
has in particular focused on the collaboration
between Bjørn Nørgaard and Jesper
Holm. The thesis is scheduled for publication
during 2007.
What were the goals for Bispebjerg
Bakke?
There were two overall goals. One was
promoting fine craftsmanship, a vision
founded on dissatisfaction with modern
construction practices where there is little
focus on the durability of the buildings.
With Bispebjerg Bakke, the desire was not
only to improve the quality of the completed
building, but also to enhance the
quality of the construction process itself.
The other goal was to blend art, architecture,
craftsmanship and technology. The
ambition was to fuse the crafts into a single
building, as one great organic union.
How were the ideas of the organic construction
brought to life?
The collaboration between Bjørn Nørgaard
and Jesper Holm has in itself been organic
in the sense that they each have built
upon the other’s ideas. Early in the process,
Bjørn chose to work in clay, which is
a method he brings from his craft and is an
unconventional element in the architectural
process.
Clay is an organic, sensuous material that
can be plied and shaped with a flexibility
that you do not have when working with
rulers and cardboard models. Clay is an
ancient, ‘low-tech’ material, but curiously
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