Summer is over, and Exners Plads 7 is buzzing with life again now that the students of Aarhus School of Architecture have returned to begin a new academic year. As is tradition, new and returning students were welcomed by Rector Kristine Leth Juul, who in her speech, among other things, spoke about why Aarhus School of Architecture is such a special place to study:
’I can say without blinking that Aarhus School of Architecture is a truly special place to study. A particularly wonderful place – and I sincerely hope you will all experience that, sooner or later. That experience may not come immediately, but hopefully it will sneak up on you.’
It is a school where people come close to one another, spending many hours together in the drawing studios over the years. This undoubtedly fosters a strong social community. But most importantly, it is crucial for the professional community and for your personal development.
It is over the drawing boards that you share ideas, see each other’s work, and hopefully challenge one another’s thinking. It is here that you see what other year groups are working on, and where you receive help when, once again, the drawings don’t come out of the plotter as intended,’she said, among other things.
Kristine Leth Juul also spoke about the school’s launch of a strategic compass with an ambition that reads, ‘United in creating beautiful and responsible architecture.’ The Rector particularly emphasised the importance of beauty in architecture:
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Det er nødvendigt, at vi bringer det smukke ind i samtalen igen. Det er uløseligt koblet til det ansvarlige. Det vil vi gerne stå op for – og vi vil gerne gøre det sammen med jer.
’Because we simply need beauty to play a greater role in architecture than it does today. It is given too little attention in discussions between the parties involved in construction – and it is far too rarely considered when homes and spaces for everyday life are built.
That is why it is necessary for us to bring beauty back into the conversation. It is inseparably linked to responsibility. We want to stand up for this – and we want to do it together with you. Both while you are here at the school – and when you soon find yourselves around the negotiating table with contractors, clients, and others.
We need to become better at articulating what we mean when we talk about beauty. We need to dare to disagree about it. To discuss the beautiful and defend it.
We need to bring it into the conversation – even when we meet an uncle at a family gathering. Hello, Uncle, what do you think constitutes beautiful and responsible architecture?
For me, beauty is when daylight pours deep into a room – when I can see trees, the sky, and people from the window – when I feel different materials, surfaces, and see how they change over time – when someone has taken care with the entrance – or when I cycle across Vesterbro Torv, free of cars, and see the façades and the square anew,’she said, among other things, before the school’s students and staff could begin the new academic year.