JAJA Architects are an up-and-coming Danish firm of architects. The backgrounds of the firm’s three principals (Norwegian, Danish, Japanese, Thai and Swiss) form an interesting design aesthetic, as their influences fuse together to make a strong statement. The young firm recently won a competition for a mix-use building in Denmark with their proposal entitled the Cornerstone – an office building that gives Vanløse a new visual anchor point and a place where people can meet to see the urban life unfold.

Currently being approved by the municipality of Copenhagen, the building will act as a catalyst for urban activity, as public space surrounds the entire built structure. The architects image the building “contributing to the area’s diversity as a building object that creates public space in front, below and behind it.”

The building’s site is an important point of entrance to the city center, marking the transition between the area’s diverse and fragmented buildings. The context includes a sampling of different typologies, small and large residences, apartments, a future shopping mall and a station. ”This fragmented and diverse character gives the intersection the characteristic of being an overlooked void space between the area’s many different components,” explained the architects.

As a way to unify the fragmentation, the void will be transformed into an urban space called Apollo Plads that will extend into the landscape and create the plinth where the Cornerstone rests. ”This is a good starting point to create a place that can unify the area and ascribe it a special identity and quality.”

Although conceived as a solitary building, the Cornerstone is closely tied to its public areas, allow city goers to interact with Vanløse’s newest landmark.

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