The ready at hand

Johansen Skovsted Arkitekter regard architecture as an existential given. It's about finding a place in the world, a home and creating a stage for human interactions. They see architecture as a medium to play with landscapes, buildings and cities and all the history that goes with it. This puts them, as Danish architects, on the shoulders of Jorn Utzon. In him they find the same humanism and the same attention to the location.

Despite the gravity of their vision, the levity of existence is clearly evident in the built work. The buildings are sculptural and often have a seemingly random composition. This gives them a strong autonomy at the same time gives one the feeling that these buildings have existed for a long time. As a construction that seems to have produced itself. A series of pump stations along a river have an upper floor seemingly composed of the formwork of the concrete facade. The design of the construction of a viewing tower is specifically aimed at the available strengths of a neighbouring steel processing company. The monochrome grey of the steel tower merges into the Danish grey days.

Johansen Skovsted Arkitekter was founded by Søren Johansen and Sebastian Skovsted. The firm is based in Copenhagen.