The Almanac by Sweco Architects Denmark is a concept project based on a reinterpretation of the traditional location-based calendar. It has been suggested that the word almanac (or almanack) derives from a Greek word meaning calendar.
Today an almanac is usually an annual publication listing a set of current information about weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and other tabular data often arranged according to the calendar. The set of events noted in an almanac may be tailored for a specific group of readers, such as farmers, sailors, astronomers, and…communities.
The Almanac by Sweco Architects Denmark is a method and architectural approach that establishes community while defining its architecture.
The architectural typology of this visionari project is a microcosm where the ground floor unites the landscape and community, and the upper part – a continuous wooden deck structure – creates individual homes of high spatial quality.
Sweco Architects Denmark set the community as the focal point for the housing of the future.
The housing communities are arranged in housing clusters, each around their common courtyard.
The housing clusters are bound together by a larger urban landscape space, where communities of varying size and with varied content create an eventful landscape connection across the buildings and bind it together with the surrounding housing clusters.
“Communities are often at their best if they are tangible and manageable. If they become too large, we easily lose the sense of togetherness and responsibility that is the prerequisite for us to share a universe. In addition, it is our experience that the community thrives best when it is not something that is expected of others, but instead stands as an enticing daily alternative. It is the awareness that has been our starting point in the work on the project,” says Karl-Martin Buch Frederiksen, architects and innovation manager at Sweco Architects.
Usually, a balcony is a heavy size in a building. Walking past other people's windows and doors on the way to your own front door can be difficult – but in a community, it is the very breeding ground for developing a good neighbourhood.
At The Almanac, the balcony corridors shoot in at the individual homes and make room for the households to stay. Here residents can sit and enjoy both the morning and evening sun, while greeting neighbours who stop by – an active small border zone that helps to activate interaction.
The concept of The Almanac includes a courtyard which is defined by various common facilities that is thought of as one cultural centre for the community with orangeries, workshops, ateliers, guest house, food house and work stations.
With each their programme and content, the facilities create one coherent and multifunctional courtyard that both addresses and interacts with the outer landscape and the interior courtyard.
Visualization by: Omegarender
