Man and Christmas Elf Explored In 14 Snow Globes By Various Architects

Man and Christmas Elf Snowglobes

This year DAC, the Dansk Architectural Center, invited architect firms Jaja, Primus and Masu to create new interpretations of the Christmas landscape in the form of snow globes or snowdomes, with modern pixies or elves (Nisse).

Man and Christmas Elf Snow Globes

Man and Christmas Elf Snowglobes

nordic snowdomes
above: Magic Garden, one of fourteen snow globes that explore the Nisse Landscape

The project is a critical interpretation of the planning perspectives on the relationship between the elf, Santa Claus, the countryside and an investigation of the modern Nisses’ influence on urban form and structural contexts, like the DAC to focus on a fundamental paradox in relation to the current pixie landscape.

human and Nisse comparison

On the one hand, continued development of ‘modern city’, with the expansion of modern nissehabitater, on the other hand, maintained the notion of ‘the traditional pixie landscape’ in the use of simple dichotomies ‘city-country’ and ‘center-periphery’ as understanding terms basis of planning. In practice this seems logical contradiction, however, mask or ignore. With respect to this masking plays the understanding of ‘pixie landscape’ as natural in contrast to the ‘city’ as a cultural importance.

nisse landscape

This pixie landscape urban discourse seeks to establish the basis for a new dialectical synthesis between urban and pixie landscape planning, where pixie landscape refers to a common framework for Christmas in the urban and rural context. Based on this alternative understanding of pixie landscape, like the DAC to consider the possibility of anchoring the goblin and his little helpers in relation to the future planning of the urban-rural pixie landscape.

How does the Nisse live amongst us today? That was the fundamental question at this year’s x-mas workshop at DAC. We chose to explore this seasonal topic through a variety of architectural and programmatic compositions, represented in these fourteen snow globes.

Xmas Bar:
xmas bar snowdome

Roof Garden:
roof garden snowdome

Harbor Bath:
Harbor Bath

Xmas Rock:
Xmas Rock

Track and Bridge:
Track and Bridge snow globe

Xmas Traffic:
Xmas Traffic snowglobe

Stair House:
Stair House

Shopping Ramp:
Shopping Ramp

Bike Park:
Bike Park snowglobe

Mix Doubles:
Mix Doubles (elf and man) snow dome

Double Facade:
Double Facade

Housing Bridge:
Housing Bridge

Stair House:
Stair House

images courtesy of JAJA, information and text courtesy of DAC