The Wise & Wonderful by Henrikke Vestereng Goksøyr, Karin Vestby and Mirabel De Guzman

WHAT IS THE ISSUE?

The women of Bispehaven take regular dance classes several times a week. The architectural design of the Fælleshus is an open space, Scandic concept. Most of the walls are covered top to bottom with transparent windows. This is an issue because the women attending the classes may come from a cultural and/or religious background that believes it is disrespectful for women to be seen by men while wearing tighter, athletic clothing, and without a hijab/proper head covering.

HOW MIGHT WE…

Help the Fælleshus i Bispehaven provide a respectful, private, and culturally appropriate design solution that represents the dancing ladies, while maintaining flexibility for other events?

ABOUT THE PROCESS

The dancing ladies, known as the Wise and Wonderful, let us into their world by engaging us in their everyday lives and activities at Fælleshuset. We decided to let them into our world, by inviting them to two co-creation workshops using different medias that we know of and have in common: Painting and embroidering. Both our experiences and the results from the workshops became important in the creation of our final textile banner.

As our final design solution we have designed mobile room dividers, consisting of either textile art banners or mirrors. The banners have a practical purpose of covering the windows, creating new dynamic spaces for events, for the women to put their outdoor clothing or for them to be able to see themselves during the dance classes. At the same time, the banners have a feeling-centered purpose of representing the women as they are: Strong, positive, and inspiring to the overall community of Bispehaven.