Danish Castle Centre

Location: Vordingborg, Denmark
Client: Danish Castle Centre
Team: Stig L. Andersson, Sofie Kjærsgaard Jørgensen, Katrine Sandstrøm
Design phase: 2009
Area: 8 ha.
Type: Commission

Today, Vordingborg’s castle terrain is a romantic park, which most people visit only to see the famous Goosetower, air the dog or to picnic with the family. But the landscape contains a far greater potential. The rich story of the place – castles, kings, and power – could very well be much more actively present. The future visitor would thereby get a more intense experience.

In SLA’s proposal for revitalization of the castle terrain, the past comes to life and thoughts are inspired. Landscape elements are employed to emphasize the many layers that history has left on the site, to make them visible and narrating.

The reconstruction of the moat not only increases the landscape amenities of the site, but also contributes to the feeling of the castle’s power. Ruins communicate the history of the place as concrete physical leftovers. Existing excavations of the castle and the surrounding wall are made visible through lighting and clearing of plantation. Or new parts of the historical installations are excavated and staged.

Curiosity is aroused, when lost buildings are visually and spatially emphasized with permanent or temporary physical installations or with lighting. Historical events are staged in so-called ‘experience plots’, which are narrative physical elements embedded in the landscape.

Each of the landscape’s communication features tells its story about the castle in its own way, thereby forming a total structure of changing layers. One experiences the historical traces of the castle with ones senses, mind and fantasy as an intense unity, which appeals to each visitor in a unique way.