This Community In Denmark Lives In Surreal Circle Gardens
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There are many urban spaces in the world that are so uniquely planned it leaves people speechless. With the help of satellites and aerial photography, we have the ability to see just how carefully buildings are laid out in the areas. One of such captivating sights is Brøndby Haveby or Brøndby Garden City. Located just outside Copenhagen, Denmark, this ‘garden city’ is a place of many community gardens that are known for their unique circular arrangement.
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The houses in Brøndby Haveby have large yards that provide a retreat from the noisy and densely populated city and also giving the opportunity to indulge in the hobby of growing plants and crops.
Image credits: henry_do
Image credits: henry_do
The idea of ‘garden city’ was approved in 1964 when the municipality of Brøndby agreed to dedicated space for allotments, thus the mesmerizing circles started to pop up in the area.
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Image credits: Google Earth
The architected of Brøndby Haveby chose this type of arrangement not by accident.
Image credits: Google Earth
The idea behind these circles is simple: to increase social interaction among those who rent the gardens.
Image credits: Google Earth
The gardens were made known by photographers such as Henry Do who stumbled upon this captivating area.
Image credits: Google Earth
Here’s how people reacted
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It seems a lot of people don't understand how this system works. The people all have houses or apartments in the city. These usually don't have any outdoor space (maybe a small balcony, often not even that). Where it's less built up, on the outskirts of the city, there are whole areas of allotments, like these. People go for the day or part of the day and go home later. They don't live in the structures shown; those are for shelter, for meals during gardening, and to keep some things in. The parking is in the centre of the circles and you don't need a garage since your car won't stay overnight (and any "stuff" you need to store will be kept in your garden house or other shed).
It looks much bigger than just sheds to me. Plus it doesn't look like the type of community garden where a lot of vegetables are grown, more like leisure garden... basic gardens that go with a house.
My thoughts exactly. If you are using these spaces to garden and grow food, why are the structures so big?
It is called "Kolonihaveområde" which could be translated as "small garden" or "family garden". The pieces of land are not bigger than 400m² the houses must not be bigger than 50m², and it is not permitted to live in theses houses the entire year. The owners can live there only from April to October. Similar concepts exist in other countries like "Kleingarten" in German speaking countries, which literally means "small garden". It's something like allotment gardens in the UK, but the land is mainly used for recreational purposes and not so much for gardening.
people are not "permitted to live in theses houses the entire year" - wtf? If it's my property than I'm allowed to live there whenever I want! I think it's more like "weekend house" where people spend their time mostly in warm months, but why should they be banned live there in winter? :))
chi-wei shen, some I-wont-say-what downvoted you for giving correct information. Have an up-vote! :-)
From the horse's mouth: https://www.quora.com/Urban-and-Regional-Planning-How-do-the-residents-of-Br%C3%B8ndby-Denmark-find-living-in-allotments-arranged-in-a-circle
The advantages will become clearly visible during a Zombie Apocalypse. It’s simple to defend the outer ring and neighbours could provide cover for you. Additionally, you have the advantage of the inner line with protected communication. If you need to break out you have a number of cars parked in the well protected centre area. Even in the worst case scenario where your ring gets overrun by zombies the other rings don’t get affected by such a loss. The architect made a very safe design.
Good point! No one ever prepares for the Zombie Apocalypse.
Why is everybody so obsessed about the lack of garages??
Because most of the answers are from people in US (I think?)
Once you've had a garage, you can't live without one.
I was thinking about winter, Denmark has snow! Quite a few of the houses are more than just summer day-houses, so your car needs shelter. I'm from S. Africa btw.
Have you ever had to clear two feet worth of snow off of your car? Once you do, then you have to clear all that cleared snow off of your driveway, so you have to move it twice. And then, scraping ice off of a car in the morning when it's -15F is never fun. (I don't know if it gets quite that cold in Denmark, but it does snow there, I think.)
I live in Canada and I don't have a garage, or any covered parking. Plenty of us don't. Some of people who do have garages convert them to workshops. We shovel, scrape and sweep many times all winter. It's good exercise - you warm up fast.
It seems a lot of people don't understand how this system works. The people all have houses or apartments in the city. These usually don't have any outdoor space (maybe a small balcony, often not even that). Where it's less built up, on the outskirts of the city, there are whole areas of allotments, like these. People go for the day or part of the day and go home later. They don't live in the structures shown; those are for shelter, for meals during gardening, and to keep some things in. The parking is in the centre of the circles and you don't need a garage since your car won't stay overnight (and any "stuff" you need to store will be kept in your garden house or other shed).
It looks much bigger than just sheds to me. Plus it doesn't look like the type of community garden where a lot of vegetables are grown, more like leisure garden... basic gardens that go with a house.
My thoughts exactly. If you are using these spaces to garden and grow food, why are the structures so big?
It is called "Kolonihaveområde" which could be translated as "small garden" or "family garden". The pieces of land are not bigger than 400m² the houses must not be bigger than 50m², and it is not permitted to live in theses houses the entire year. The owners can live there only from April to October. Similar concepts exist in other countries like "Kleingarten" in German speaking countries, which literally means "small garden". It's something like allotment gardens in the UK, but the land is mainly used for recreational purposes and not so much for gardening.
people are not "permitted to live in theses houses the entire year" - wtf? If it's my property than I'm allowed to live there whenever I want! I think it's more like "weekend house" where people spend their time mostly in warm months, but why should they be banned live there in winter? :))
chi-wei shen, some I-wont-say-what downvoted you for giving correct information. Have an up-vote! :-)
From the horse's mouth: https://www.quora.com/Urban-and-Regional-Planning-How-do-the-residents-of-Br%C3%B8ndby-Denmark-find-living-in-allotments-arranged-in-a-circle
The advantages will become clearly visible during a Zombie Apocalypse. It’s simple to defend the outer ring and neighbours could provide cover for you. Additionally, you have the advantage of the inner line with protected communication. If you need to break out you have a number of cars parked in the well protected centre area. Even in the worst case scenario where your ring gets overrun by zombies the other rings don’t get affected by such a loss. The architect made a very safe design.
Good point! No one ever prepares for the Zombie Apocalypse.
Why is everybody so obsessed about the lack of garages??
Because most of the answers are from people in US (I think?)
Once you've had a garage, you can't live without one.
I was thinking about winter, Denmark has snow! Quite a few of the houses are more than just summer day-houses, so your car needs shelter. I'm from S. Africa btw.
Have you ever had to clear two feet worth of snow off of your car? Once you do, then you have to clear all that cleared snow off of your driveway, so you have to move it twice. And then, scraping ice off of a car in the morning when it's -15F is never fun. (I don't know if it gets quite that cold in Denmark, but it does snow there, I think.)
I live in Canada and I don't have a garage, or any covered parking. Plenty of us don't. Some of people who do have garages convert them to workshops. We shovel, scrape and sweep many times all winter. It's good exercise - you warm up fast.