This project consists of two steps, both concerned with developing the Kulbane district, together with students from Lykkebo School.

Step 1

arki_lab was selected to engage and collaborate with the students at Lykkebo School, as a part of the The Kulbane Area Renewal’s new district plan development. The socially diverse neighbourhood is inhabited by communities and families, especially the youth, who feel isolated and socially deprived from their surroundings. Thus this project had a huge focus on engaging the youth and aimed to activate schools and youth clubs in the future development of the area.

Besides acquiring knowledge about how the youth use the area, it was important that the project and outcomes marked a new beginning. It was important that the youth knew that they had an impact on their surroundings and could feel a sense of belonging to the new development. 300 students from different age groups participated in the project. To make the workshop a productive and fun experience for all participants, we gave it a playful theme: The students had to be agents on an important mission to help the Area Renewal team create the best neighbourhood. The students were sent out on 3 different missions that focused on collecting behaviour and movement patterns, observing and analyzing the sites and finally developing ideas for the future.

Step 2

In autumn 2016 arki_lab worked on developing the future Kulbane Park, in collaboration with teachers and students from Lykkebo School. The project focused on creating awareness of the future development among students, giving them a voice in the future of this local public space.

The goal of the project was to facilitate young people in developing a physical identity for the new park by creating installations that were placed in various key places in the Kulbane neighbourhood. The entire process consisted of workshops, a design week and a final ‘opening’ event, where parents, teachers, politicians and interested citizens could see the students’ work. The objective of the workshops was to provide young people with valuable insights into what it means to be an active citizen, through learning methods to examine and understand their town and to express themselves creatively.

Throughout the design week students engaged in practical design processes by building different installations. Then we interpreted their ideas and wishes into final design installations. At the same time, it was important to have an overall common thread between different installations. The installations helped mark the start of the Area Renewal’s development and gave citizens a sense that change is on the horizon.