Day 15 (Part 01) - Dorte Mandrup
Copenhagen, Denmark
Line Rahbek | Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter
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Today was a big day - I think this needs to be broken down in to several posts.
First up was a meeting with Line Rahbek, an architect at Copenhagen-based architectural practice Dorte Mandrup.
Most recently, Line has been involved in the design of the soon-to-be tallest tower in Scandinavia. The high rise is a relativity new concept in Scandinavia, particularly in Denmark, however the needs of the population are changing and resulting in new typological pursuits in the region. Line is applying her experience from UK and Australian contexts, and fusing the establishment of contextually rich architectural proposals delivered intuitively via sketching, model-making, and digital (Rhinoceros + Revit) means.
Her ability in liaising across disciplines benefits this process, and the capability to foster computational and parametric workflows has assisted the collaborative resolution of complex elements, like those present in Dorte Mandrup’s ‘The Opal’ project.
However traditionally architects aren’t software developers. More so in this digitally immersed society, the contribution a coding background offers to architecture is strong and valuable. But for Line, the goal is for a system to be created that allows more front-end involvement with conceptual inception. I resonate with this mentality - the more time that is unlocked from working repetitively and applied to working rapidly to test and interrogate design possibilities just adds to the resolved outcomes that become built.
A really cool and interesting note that Line raised was that, internally at Dorte Mandrup, some of the architects design parametrically. But not always with parametric tools like Grasshopper or Dynamo. It’s more that the thought process to design is being approached in a parametric sense. The seeds of working in this manner are already established, and depending on project requirements these can be applied either analogously or digitally.
To me, this begins to indicate a cause of resistance between ‘traditional’ architectural practices from adopting parametric and computational design methodologies could stem from an ill-perception of what the ‘parametric’ is. The ‘parametric’ design approach isn’t actually far separated from the historical process of architectural design. It involves a vigorous understanding of needs, strategies, aesthetics, and fostering of absent values, that are distilled into somewhat of a recipe of steps to ultimate into a designed response.
It can be easy however for the notion of the ‘parametric’ to be misconstrued as an architectural style rather than a pragmatic method of approaching design. If you were to Google search the term ‘Parametric Design’ you’ll be met with images of organically-shaped objects, yet the use of these digital tools don’t actually dictate an entanglement with a single aesthetic despite the process and tools having assisted in the development of new architectural languages over previous years. In fact, the use of parametric design has as much reason to result in the production of rectilinear buildings as it does curvaceous.
Rather, parametric design is an illustration of the pragmatic and logical encoding of the architect’s process that, when bolstered digitally, can take the profession to a realm yet to be explored. And I mean that in both the artistic, workflow-efficiency, and purposefully-informed senses. Again, it’s important to note that it is not the parametric tools that are designing, but the people driving the design through a parametric framework of thinking. In some instances at Dorte Mandrup this is occurring even without the use of digital tools.
It was truely great to see the hygge studio space of Dorte Mandrup. An office that cares about quality outcomes; for clients, building occupants, visitors, designs, and their employees. The beautiful and industrial model making workshop was less populated than a typical day as the intern-team is touring Switzerland and Germany - an incentive establish by Dorte Mandrup that emphasises the importance on architectural discipline and growth involving real-world immersion into the spaces and typologies we design for.
Maybe this also should be explored and adopted by more industries and architectural practices to remain focussed on what and how the world operates, and of the true people that are being designed for.
Travel - it’s a world of continued professional development.