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Arch, Geografisk Have, 2000

Arch, Geografisk Have, Photo Ole Akhøj - Click the picture Click the small picture

In connection with the Danish Ceramics Triennial in Kolding in the summer of 2000, I contributed to an exhibition in Geografisk Have, titled "Arches". The exhibition was dedicated to the ways in which ceramics can be used to shape the outdoor environment.

The arch is a universal building element that people throughout the ages have been occupied with and given a variety of expressions to.
In this connection the brick arch has its long history.

Arch, Geografisk Have, 2000, Photo Ole Akhøj
Arch, Geografisk Have, 2000, Photo Ole Akhøj

To me the possibilities of the brick arch - both in construction and content - is of great importance.

One of the things an arch does, is to emphasize the passage from one sphere to another, it creates a zone of awareness.
Geografisk Have has a lot of passages from one fine garden to the next.
It is a thrill to get lost in a maze or a forest of tall trees, to feel contained, and then to suddenly come upon the open land of the lawn with its open spacious views.
And conversely - from the open land to "dive" into the tall and dense growth, an adventure.

It is such a passage in the landscape that my arch illustrates.


The project has been sponsored by Konsul George Jorck and wife Emma Jorck's Fund og Grosserer L. F. Foghts Fund.
Master builder: Kjeld Beck Madsen, Gelsted.
Bricks sponsored by Petersen Tegl, Egernsund A/S. Mortar sponsored by Optiroc.
Photos: Ole Akhøj.


Helle Vibeke Steffensen     Overgaden Oven Vandet 82, 1415 Copenhagen K.     telephone: 30 27 86 07       email: helvibst@bygningskeramik.dk