Mariehøj Cultural Centre’s sloping roof scoops up from the ground at the lowest part of the site and over the ridge of an existing block, connecting the arrival area, the cultural plaza and the beautiful backyard. Photo: Rasmus Hjortshoj
Redefining boundaries and building bridges The portfolio includes everything from a church conversion and private housing to cultural centres, schools and scout huts, but the starting point is always the same for Copenhagen-based architecture practice Sophus Søbye Architects: they work to push boundaries and improve lives. By Camilla Pedersen
“Being an architect is all about creating spaces that change people’s lives for the better. This is what makes architecture meaningful,” says Sophus Søbye, MAA, founder and owner of Sophus Søbye Architects. A short trip to the south-east coast of Greenland will serve as an illustrious example of one of the firm’s current projects that will do just that. In the small town of Tasiilaq, a Youth Culture House is currently taking shape – a project that is shaped by the voices and dreams of the town’s young people, who make up a big percentage of Tasiilaq’s 2,100 inhabitants.
need somewhere to meet and hang out in their spare time, and this is exactly what they’ll be able to do once the project is completed. It will be a safe place where they can enjoy being part of a community, explore various activities including music, dance, theatre and storytelling, and just have fun and nurture dreams and aspirations for their future life,” says Søbye. The culture house is mainly an investment into the future of the youth, but it will also benefit other inhabitants, with activities that build bridges across generations.
“Interviews with the children and young people in the town have served as the foundation for the project. These kids
“Many of the projects we’re involved with come to life out of an ambition to create connections and build bridges – between
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people, cultures, materials; buildings and nature, and in some ways even the past, present and future,” Søbye explains. Mariehøj Cultural Centre in Holte, just north of Copenhagen, is a good example of how the architecture practice makes nature and architecture blend.
Sophus Søbye. Photo: Sophus Søbye Architects