We saw this
blog post by Build LLC the other day and thought we'd share it. Enjoy!
By BUILD LLC
Last week we were invited to be part of
Pecha Kucha
#36 at the Nordic Heritage Museum in the Ballard neighborhood of
Seattle. It was a blast closing out the event and we had a ton of fun
watching the other participants; see the full roster
here. The theme was “Nordic Love” and we decided to divulge the
top 10 things we learned while studying in Scandinavia.
Afterwards, we were thrilled that so many people asked if the
presentation would be up on the blog. So we said, “Heck yeah, we’ll put
it up.” Enjoy.
Intro
In the fall of 1993 we each boarded an airplane from our respective
universities with our sights set on studying architecture in Copenhagen,
Denmark. At the time we knew very little about Denmark; we knew about
the popularity of cheese, the public acceptance of funny sweaters and
the abundance of oddly named pastries. We had no idea how influential
Scandinavia would be in our lives and our careers as architects.
1. Everything can be designed.
Everything was designed well in Scandinavia, from entire buildings right
down to glassware at the local cafe. The Danes even applied their
design skills to the hot dog bun, or pølse, as they called it. The bun
was baked with a hole perfectly sized for a hot dog (insert humorous but
harmless phallic observation here).
2. Good design always trumps fashion.
The objects that surrounded us in Denmark weren’t just well designed,
they were timeless. They were designed in such a way that you bought
something once. You used it your entire life and then handed it down to
your grandchildren. A great example of this is the famed PH5 lamp
designed by Poul Henningsen in 1925 and manufactured by Louis Poulsen.
When things are designed well, like chairs, and books, and cabinets …
you don’t need fashion. This is the Egg Chair designed by Arne Jacobsen
in 1958. Did we mention that the Scandinavians are also very skilled at
marketing?
3. Modest private spaces – celebrated public spaces.
In Scandinavia, people live modest personal lives with unpretentious,
economical homes. Energy, resources and pride are put into the public
spaces. This is one of the many courtyards along Copenhagen’s main
shopping street, the Strøget.
Locations like plazas, courtyards and mezzanines become places to gather
and celebrate the daily rituals of life. The Royal Danish Library is an
excellent example of an indoor gathering space. The new addition,
designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen, was completed in 2006 and is an
extension to the original library from 1648.
4. Public transportation needs to be the path of least resistance.
Not only is there an excellent public transportation system in
Copenhagen, but the policies around using public transportation are also
very clever. At the time of our studies, anyone who bought an
automobile was given a train pass. Even after you had abandoned the
public transportation system the Dane’s still didn’t give up on you. The
encouragement to use public transportation was astonishing.
Copenhagen’s “five finger” transportation system reaches each of the 5
main prominent neighborhoods. Like most things Scandinavian, they’ve
taken a complex system of information and have boiled it down to an
elegant and easily understandable diagram.
5. Personal freedom trumps rules.
This is the Carlsberg Brewery, where decades ago employees of the
brewery were allowed to consume six beers per day on the job
(seriously). Naturally, workers maxed out their daily limit more often
than not.
When the brewery eliminated the limit, making it possible to drink as
many beers as one liked, the number of beers consumed per employee went
down.
6. Being good is more important than being famous.
The anonymity of Scandinavian designers always impressed us. Every time
you turned a corner in Denmark you found great architecture by
architects you had never heard of, architects that don’t care about
popularity.
Scandinavian’s don’t yearn to be rich, famous or published. It’s enough
just to do good work and have a good life. This is the folding chair
designed by Hans Wegner in 1949.
7. Lower your expectations and you’ll be happier.
The Scandinavian countries are cultures that believe they have enough; they’re happy with things just as they are.
The Dane’s do not tie their happiness to the stock market or what
they’re driving. Simple pleasures and daily routines can offer as much
joy in life as you want them to.
8. Anybody can cook well.
When we lived in Scandinavia it was all meatballs and potatoes. There
was no point in going out to eat because there wasn’t any good food. And
because no one would go out to eat, new restaurants wouldn’t open up.
Now the Scandinavians have the best restaurant in the world,
NOMA.
On a typical Danish menu you can now find terms like herb emulsions,
sea foam, and foraged blueberry meringue. If the Danes can pull out of
this culinary tail spin, anybody can do it.
9. Save the schnapps for last.
There is etiquette to drinking in Scandinavia: you start with a beer or
two, then move onto wines with dinner and maybe an after dinner drink.
Later in the evening, Farfar heads down to the cellar to fetch a bottle
of that schnapps he made a few summers ago. This is an ancient drink for
the soul; it embodies the tradition, the beliefs and the happiness of
an entire culture.
There is a social significance of sharing drink; it happens with good
people around a table of food and stories and wine stains. It can’t be
bought, it can’t be acted out, and it can’t be found on Facebook.
10. We all need more hyggelig.
The Danes have a word, hyggelig, that doesn’t even translate in the
English language because we don’t have enough of it. Its closest
relative is “cozy” but even that doesn’t come close to encompassing
everything that hyggelig embodies. It’s about a calm, comfortable
surrounding with good friends or loved ones, often while enjoying good
food and drink. And it’s something we all need more of.
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