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We are almost always present in architecture. It is where we sleep and eat and work and gather; it is what we travel to and what we journey between. But how aware are we of the effect it has on us; on how we move and think and feel? We know that architecture has a lasting, even irreversible, effect on the environment. But do we understand how these things are all connected? Rather than showcase 3XN GXN’s body of work, the exhibition invites visitors into six immersive, 1:1 installations where the emphasis is not on form or function, but on the visitors’ experience in space. These experiences are the fundamental concepts of architecture: not brick, concrete, or steel, but relations between bodies and spaces, between spatial atmospheres and human emotions.
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Aware is created in collaboration with the Danish Architecture Center, which is housed in BLOX, a building that has been the subject of a lot of discussion - and which 3XN GXN wants to contribute to through the exhibition. Aware consists of a total installation that transforms BLOX and works 1:1 with how architectural means can be used to change the perception of the building's existing spatialities.
Architecture can thrill you or awe you, calm you down or foster connection. It can be caring and protective – or stimulate your curiosity, igniting idle senses and unfolding unseen worlds. The six installations in Aware play on ideas and forms that 3XN GXN explores in its work, nudging the visitor to realise and question how space can define atmospheres and shape moods. How, for example, a staircase’s function may be to connect different levels, but its liminal atmosphere encourages unplanned connection. How timber and organic forms relate back to our deeper natures, giving us visceral connection to the natural world even as our time is increasingly spent indoors. How the tweaking of typical architectural elements makes the familiar unfamiliar, coaxing us around the corner. Each of the spaces in Aware emphasise and twist what we expect from architecture, giving us new insight into how we perceive ourselves and the world around us. Lighting and soundscapes further emphasise the temporal, experiential quality of the exhibition. Once having wound their way through the installations, visitors arrive to the exhibition’s close: a behind the scenes look at some of the research, projects, and developments that informed the spaces they have just left behind. This look at complete and ongoing projects offers insight into how architects and allied professionals work together to create environments that stand the test of time and promote wellbeing for both people and planet.
“Design choices are never merely aesthetic – they fundamentally influence our lives and affect our experiences. Architecture shapes our behaviour. These intangible, fleeting qualities have long been a driving force of 3XN GXN’s work. We are fascinated by how people and space interact and have a hunger to understand and work with the innate, universal dimensions that make up experience. Why? Because experience is how we all understand architecture” - Kim Herforth Nielsen, 3XN Founder.
Across typologies and scales, 3XN’s work is driven by the conviction that architecture should give something back - to people, to communities, and to our planet. Since 1986, 3XN has specialised in transformational projects: projects that give obsolete structures new form and character, that transform dormant neighbourhoods into thriving cultural hubs, or that unite disparate organizations into collaborative communities. GXN was founded in 2007 by 3XN with the aim of exploring architecture’s potential for affecting positive change. Through the remit to explore beyond traditional architectural practice, GXN has developed a unique cross-disciplinary methodology of feeding research into the built environment and letting the questions of practice direct the research. With offices in Copenhagen (HQ), Stockholm, Sydney, New York, London and Amsterdam, the perspectives of 3XN GXN’s global practice gives depth to its holistic methodology which prioritizes behaviour, curiosity, and circularity.
https://3xn.com/project/aware-...
