Unearthed-Actors Agency and Activism at Jagtvej 69

Abstract

University of Washington Abstract UNEARTHED Actors, Agency and Activism at Jagtvej 69 Lauren Leighton Keene Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Nicole Huber Department of Architecture This thesis examines the connections between social culture and the built environment by using temporary interventions as a method of site analysis. Through the experimentation with the ephemeral and temporary I hope to explore the possibility of inverting stigma associated with socially and historically loaded sites. The methodology for this process involves 2 parts; collection and experimentation. The collection entails indepth research of the social and political histories the imagined and unimagined stories of the site. Experimentation involves proposing informed interventions in the form of art installation or temporary use to investigate the social components of the site. I see this exploration as a method to open a space, "a scene of hypotheses " in a site that has been deemed untouchable. I hope this method will inform a more permanent design solution that can mirror the artistic and elemental quality in the temporary installation. Site The site for experimentation is 69 Jagtvej in Copenhagen Denmark. The former site of Ungdomshuset (youth house) is currently a vacant lot. The building was demolished in 2007 after the inhabitants were evicted. The politics surrounding the eviction of the people of Ungdomshuset we so controversial that supporters of the house rioted and protested the demolition of the building. The events surrounding the Ungdomshuset were unprecedented in Copenhagen and remains an open wound in the social conscious of the city. Nicknamed `ground 69' , the site sits across from Assistens Kirkegard, a city cemetery and public park. A portion of the cemetery will become a metro station on the Ring line of the Copenhagen Metro, currently under construction. With the addition of the metro as another layer of this very diverse neighborhood, sites like Jagtvej 69 will not be able to remain empty. This site is a site of loss for many in the city but it cannot remain a wasteland. I see this experimentation with temporary installations as a social litmus test to gage what could be and what should be. The embodied tension within the site can serve as a generative force to create a dynamic , layered design that can constantly change and evolve.