They describe themselves as an artistic-architectural community, and upon closer inspection Bureau Detours of Denmark is in fact quite a large group. With around 20 members, they’re much more than a simple collective. Is it about strength in numbers or because grass-roots ideas are always the best? The fact remains that this sharing of ideas and experiences (the group includes artists, architects, designers as well as sound engineers, gardeners and lighting enthusiasts) is giving rise to a real movement that is going beyond Denmark and attracting interest in Germany and Norway.
Their range of action lies between art and architecture. “We test the boundaries and limits of public space, with great social commitment,” they explain. Benny Jepsen, one of the members, points out that for them public space is a place where anyone can make their voice heard, an open place that is accessible to all citizens without distinction.
In practice Bureau Detours create contemporary multifunctional oases in the urban landscape, places where new relationships can be formed and where people can interact. One example is their huge installation built last summer in the Danish town of Arhus outside the Contemporary Art Centre as part of the Arhus Festival. The bizarre ten-metre-high scaffolding was made from wooden benches and extended over 500 square metres, concealing within it stages, gardens, a bar, a hostel, a kitchen as well as mobile units for exhibiting works of art.
In February, the Danish group was guest of honour at DoGA (the Norwegian centre for architecture and design) with the exhibition “More is More”, organised by Norsk Form. Here Bureau brought in their open-source working method, to describe it with a fashionable IT term. The aim? To demonstrate that design is the basis of everything. The rest comes on its own; you just need an open and receptive attitude. ES