Illuminated mural sets new standards for decoration of urban space
Illuminated mural sets new standards for decoration of urban space
As part of the upgrade of public housing on Gadekaervej in Valby, Copenhagen, an enormous art work now adorns the building’s wall. The mural consists of a series of phrases that express the hopes and dreams of local residents.
It was developed in collaboration between the residents and a poet, Morten Søndergaard. Ramboll created the LED-illumination, so that the beautiful outdoor mural can also be seen in the dark. What do people who live in this once anonymous public housing dream about? And how can these dreams be shown and shared in a public space, in a way that is both discreet and elegant, and at the same time provides food for thought for passersby?
These are the questions that the Danish poet, Morten Søndergaard asked himself and the answers can be read on a wall in Valby, Copenhagen, on a 16 metres high and 15 metres wide surface. The dreams are part of the mural, which from a distance appears as a long row of random words, but as you get closer, you discover they are phrases that express some of the residents’ innermost thoughts.
The installation, entitled ”the Dream Wall”, was created after a series of workshops where Morten Søndergaard collected over 300 dreams from residents. And both children and adults have eagerly contributed. ”Valby Visions is a fantastic piece, which in my view sets new standards for the decoration of public space. It unites local public participation and artistic expression in an elegant manner, and provides unique insight into the inner thoughts of humans, both for people just passing by and for the residents themselves. And in this case, it represents the finishing touch on the extensive building modernisation we also just completed,” says Per Zwinge, Head of Ramboll’s Department for Architecture, Landscape and Process.
Valby Visions stems from the strong desire by local residents to get more art on buildings in their area. The mural was dedicated in May 2015 and is the seventh mural project in Valby in a relatively short time.
Increasing sense of ownership and pride
Morten Søndergaard predicts that Valby Visions will be seen not only as a welcome aesthetic boost to the area but that the mural will also contribute positively to the local sense of community:
”We received a huge number of beautiful and fantastic dreams, and also some more sad thoughts, so it was incredibly difficult to choose which ones to use in the final piece. The fact that the people who live here can see their own and their neighbours’ dreams on the wall will give them a great sense of ownership of the artwork. It will engage and connect people and hopefully make them proud of the place where they live,” says Morten Søndergaard.
The project was funded by the Copenhagen Urban Renewal in Valby, Domea, one of Denmark’s largest building and public housing administrators and the Danish Arts Foundation’s Committee for Art in Public Spaces and Literature Committee. Ramboll is the consultant and Enemaerke & Petersen are the contractors for the renovation of Domea’s building on Gadekaervej.
Morten Søndergaard holds an MA in Literature from 1995 and has attended the Danish Academy of Creative Writing from 1989-91. He has published many collections of poetry, a number of which have been nominated for the Nordic Council’s Literature Award.
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