Kathrin Gimmel together with Jakob S. Christensen and Jan Y. Tanaka is one of the founders of JAJA Architects. The practice, a Copenhagen-based collective of international architects, stretches across a diverse range of backgrounds, from Norway, Switzerland, Japan and Denmark. Founded in 2008, they have been able, even if quite young, to distinguish themselves as one of the leading emerging firms in Denmark. Their works embrace a playful, fun and explosive character that, pushing the boundaries of pragmatic and functional solutions, proposes new hybrid spaces, exploring new ways of living together.
Park n Play, emblematic of their strong desire of social inclusiveness and sharing, transforms a dull, grey multi-story parking garage, facing the harbour, in the middle of the urban context, into an extremely attractive red coloured, plant filled presence, culminating with a rooftop playground.
Game Streetmekka Aalborg, an industrial structure, a former eternit laboratory turned into a new dynamic street-lab, dense of activities is another appealing proposal, ‘seeking to weave as many relationships as possible between what is there and what is to become’. Deeply concerned about sustainability and mobility, Kathrin will give some hints on the crucial points of their ideal architecture aspiring to satisfy the needs of a ‘desirable city’.
