"Rome wasn't built in a day," one says. Completing big projects takes patience and persistence.
We recognise this in Sønderborg. Fourteen years have now passed since the publication of Frank Gehry's Masterplan for the Town’s Harbour. In those years a whole new district has sprung up in Sønderborg.
The master plan was ready in 2008, but initially its implementation was delayed by the financial crisis that followed straight after. The first houses in the Town’s Harbour were therefore not ready for occupation until 2013, which just makes it so much more impressive that today, only nine years later, there is a whole new town district, almost completed, on the land where the town's old industrial harbour once stood.
There is just one remaining plot left in the original Masterplan still to be developed. Hopefully soon, a 14-storey apartment building will be built.
Frank Gehry's thinking has been upheld throughout. Every building described in his plan has been built to the purpose and height specified by him. As the Town’s Harbour has arisen, other buildings though, that were not part of the original 2008 design, have been added. These are buildings that have been included because they contribute to a good and cohesive district: The Alssund Dormitory, the Harbour's multi-storey car park, the Passage and the Sergenten (the completely renovated barracks workshop). On the opposite side of Alssund, the University of Southern Denmark has expanded with the Centre for Industrial Electronics.
There is so much to say, but often images speak louder than words.
So, click on the video below for a virtual tour of the many buildings around Alssund and the Town’s Harbour.
