Place: Odense, Denmark
Team: MASU Planning
Client: Municipality of Odense, Realdania
Size: 6.000 m2
Timeline: 2010-2012
Grønnegade Square
A new diverse city space for activity and recreation. Its diversity is seemingly hidden in the simple spacial design but is brought to life by the presence and movement of people.
Grønnegade has been redesigned to become a square worthy to be in front of the art museum and culture institution of Brandts in the centre of Odense.
The warm yellow brick paving is the most recognisable material in the public city space in Odense. It binds the city together in a marvellous way, and speaks of tradition and qualitative awareness of city space. In Grønnegade, it is given an irregular touch by introducing large, wavelike patterns and laid out as an ornamented carpet as a basis for the functionality of the square. Large, organically shaped bench elements, interactive light and water scenography are placed on this carpet.
The brick paving is used in many different surfaces and in a wide variety of patterns and bonds – so we wanted to challenge the classic brick material and show the familiar material in a new, innovative way. As a consequence, the square signals both site specific tradition and quality, and at the same time points to the future by supporting a lively urban space with an active surface as a base for spontaneous and informal play and stay. Ny Grønnegade has become a beautiful, useful, active, and robust city space for everyone. A place where composition, function, and aesthetics become one.
The result is a city space which can be taken in and explored, and where users actively influence the space around them. The multi-use surface allows many different activities to take place in the same space. Different pieces of recreational furniture, which structure the square and support the program are placed on the brick paving. The furniture offers plenty of seating opportunities and a large area of recreational surface. The edges of the seating plinths, their black painted wooden decks or in the immediate space between them, are the most popular places to hang out, relax, and play.
