Interior and decoration of Dugnad Center Vesterbro – a place for drug use

 

With Tina Saabye, partner at Witraz architects, Mette Høj, concept designer, Karin Dam, process consultant, Michael Lodberg, social worker/Manager of Café Dugnad and Ole Kristensen, psychologist.

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The establishment of a new hangout for drug users on Halmtorvet. Here I have worked with values (see here ), translating these into principles for the interior design, and the interior design itself. This has been done in an interdisciplinary team with an architect, psychologist, concept designer, social worker and myself. I have made, among other things, sculptural lamps, window films with drawings and texts and tiles for the sink in the café area.

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The project is a continuation of the fixerums project and the Mændenes Hjem project . I am on the board of Dugnad. The Dugnad Center is a historic collaboration between a private organization (Dugnad) and the Municipality of Copenhagen and is Vesterbro's proposal for an innovative, concrete solution to some of the drug problems in Vesterbro. It is a worthy sanctuary in the form of a place to stay and a resource for drug users. Many drug users in Copenhagen have no place to stay. My role has been to translate the drug users' ideas and needs into visual dimensions. As well as to define the values of the place and translate them into the physical layout.

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The place contains, among other things:

• Café and kitchen

• Conflict resolution space – there are so many unresolved conflicts between drug users, locals, politics, business, etc.

• Rest area, shower, toilet and lockers.

• Development of special jobs. Alternative labor market where drug users can be employed in alternative "day laborer jobs"

• Health rooms designed to take care of health needs and with facilities for fixing rooms for legal substances

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The interior design and decoration that I am involved in is intended to create a physical framework for some values and functions that have not yet been used in the work with drug users in Denmark. Together, we have developed a completely new set of methods such as decriminalization (development of odd day laborer jobs), conflict resolution (drug users have no legal security as their lifestyle is completely criminalized), exclusion (soup kitchen/café that is also open to non-drug users, joint events with non-drug users) and inclusive 'low-threshold' conditions (i.e. access for those who are rejected elsewhere - where their deviant behavior is seen as symptoms that they need help, care and love, rather than rejection).

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Watch the film about the project's values below: