AA SQUARE

 Aalborg University, Places and Passages, Group Project, January 2012

The theme of the project Places and Passages involved a re-design of a specific urban space in the heart of Aalborg. The urban space re-designed in this project was Toldbod Plads, located in front of Limfjorden with pathways leading towards both the Utzon Center and the main centre of Aalborg.

The focus of the project was to develop a new design concept that would better suit the location at hand; Toldbod Plads.

The project has been entitled “AA Square”, after the stream (‘aa’ means stream in Danish) that was originally located through the urban space and also because the space is centrally located in the city of Aalborg (AA is also used as an acronym for Aalborg city). The vision for the space was to create a ‘public domain’ where everyone is welcome.

Different sized concrete forms covered in grass or containing pools of water are the focal points in the square. An obvious flowing space is created and is outlined by three main clusters of the concrete forms. Trees were incorporated into the square as noise and wind protection and as a border for the space. An ‘open minded’ space was created with many different possible social functions including sitting spaces, skating possibilities, transit, events and many more.