Kapellet Genfortalt
A group of 15 architects, artists, and craftspeople have temporarily taken over a former chapel with a garden. Over the summer, they are focusing on the site’s qualities and potential in order to transform it for new purposes by adding as little as possible. The project reflects a new trend in architecture, which is about demolishing less and instead learning to see the value in what already exists.
At the Frederiksberg Hospital grounds lies a former chapel with a garden, which over the summer has been gently transformed by a group of architects, artists, and craftspeople. Through cleaning, repairing, and working with the existing elements – brickwork, floors, doors, and details – they have explored how the building and garden can be given new life with as few additions as possible. The result is a sensory architectural experience that points toward new, sustainable approaches to transformation with low resource consumption and great care.
The transformation has been carried out in close collaboration between three interdisciplinary teams of architects, artists, and craftspeople, selected by the Danish Association of Architects through an open call. The process and the work have been curated by Marianne Krogh, art historian, MAA, and Sidsel Gelting Hodge, project manager and professional consultant at the Danish Association of Architects.
The transformation of the chapel is part of a larger redevelopment of the Frederiksberg Hospital grounds into a new urban district, where the chapel, along with many other buildings in the area, has been designated for preservation and transformation. The Danish Association of Architects’ transformation of the chapel is a first step toward opening up the new district to the citizens of Frederiksberg and Copenhagen. The project is intended to serve as an example of how transformation can be approached more sustainably.
Kapellet Genfortalt is part of the initiative Agenda Earth, which puts words and images to the built environment and landscapes of the future. The initiative is run by the Danish Association of Architects and continuously developed in collaboration with the Dreyer Foundation, with support from the Dreyer Foundation. Kapellet Genfortalt is also supported by the Danish Arts Foundation, Bestles Fond, Knud Højgaards Fond, as well as the Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansen Foundation.
The three teams consist of:
Team 1: Tegnestuen Verna, visual artist Julie Falk, and writer and cultural geographer Emmy Laura Perez Fjalland. Based on Funen, architects MAA Nanna Kley and Frederik Koefoed from Verna have built solid experience within transformation and the use of recycled materials. They combine this with artistic and landscape insights from Julie Falk and Emmy Laura Perez Fjalland, who work performatively and critically with the site’s histories and materials.
Team 2: Tegnestuen A Part of Sum, artist and carpenter Line Hvidbjerg, and architect and bricklaying apprentice Lasse Buus. A Part of Sum consists of architects MAA Philip Lütken, Emilie Boye Kjær, and Laurids Bager. The practice has experience from both Danish and international projects and is based in Copenhagen. Line Hvidbjerg and Lasse Buus contribute with a special focus on craftsmanship processes and the transformation of materials. In addition, craftsperson Karoline Bach Larsen contributes.
Team 3: Hahn Lavsen, artist Rasmus Søndergaard Johannsen, and textile artist (tapestry weaver) Marianne Noer. The architectural duo Hahn Lavsen, consisting of architects MAA Caroline Hahn and Ebbe Lavsen, is based in Thy in Western Jutland. The pair work with an ethically grounded approach to transformation and have a background in restoration. In collaboration with Rasmus Søndergaard Johannsen and Marianne Noer, they will develop new methods for understanding and revitalizing the existing. The team works with intangible cultural heritage and the value of reusing everything—without creating hierarchies between materials.
The curatorial team consists of art historian PhD Marianne Krogh and architect MAA Sidsel Gelting Hodge. Among other projects, Marianne Krogh was curator of the exhibition Connectedness at the Venice Biennale in 2021. Sidsel Gelting Hodge works as a professional consultant and project manager at the Danish Association of Architects and has, among other things, been behind the exhibitions Reset Materials – Towards Sustainable Architecture and Implement Materials – Towards a New Biogenic Building Practice.
Kapellet Genfortalt has been developed by Arkitektforeningen and is supported by the Dreyers Found, Statens Kunstfond, Knud Højgaards Fond, Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond as well as the Bestles Foundation.