The DAC's vision and mission are based on the partnership between Realdania, the Danish Ministry of Culture and the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs. The vision and the mission set the ambition level for the DAC's activities.
The DAC's objective and legitimacy consist in promoting co-operation across the professional boundaries of the construction sector and architecture so that the players, working together, are able to contribute to the forward-looking development of architecture and construction specifically and Danish society in general.
Vision
It is the DAC's vision to be a globally-oriented visionarium for cultural and commercial development and for dissemination of Danish architecture and construction.
The DAC is a place that provides access to, and tests visions for, the future physical organisation of society and of the production mechanisms that must contribute to high quality in physical environments. This is done against the background of Danish participation in global culture and economy. The aim with the term "visionarium" is that this knowledge is disseminated through visualising concepts that make the visions available to everyone.
Mission
It is the DAC's mission to initiate partnerships that develop and disseminate Danish architecture and construction with a view to creating cultural and commercial value.
There are two reasons why the DAC sets up partnerships for its activities. First of all, in order to attract the necessary - and often varying - competencies for its projects and exhibitions. Secondly, in order to ensure single ownership of the development resulting from the participation of several players in projects and exhibitions.
The objective with the partnership concept is a wide range of more or less formalised collaborations between the DAC and construction-sector players. Partnerships may, for example, involve co-operation in the reciprocal exchange of knowledge and/or economic support.
The DAC's vision, mission and values are concretely expressed in the two profiles of its work: culture and commerce. These are the two central poles in society in relationship to architecture and construction. The DAC's activities integrate knowledge and competencies from architecture and construction with a view to contributing to development and innovation within the two fields.
The DAC works on three levels: regional, national and global.
The two profiles are outlined below in relationship to the DAC's target groups.
The DAC is to have a role as a central player and agent for change within Danish architecture and construction. The DAC's commerce profile and the activities deriving from it are to constitute a platform for development, dissemination and exchange of new, forward-looking and internationally-oriented knowledge, products and services.
The platform consists of competency-developing forums and activities the objective of which is to promote development in commerce characterised by dialogue, knowledge exchange, co-operative action and forward-looking orientation. The commerce profile is to focus particularly on the inevitable new industrialising and reorganising of construction that will be determining for increased efficiency, income and quality in architecture and construction.
The activities that are part of the commerce profile refer especially to the following, in no particular order:
The DAC is to be Denmark's national dissemination centre for architecture and construction and as such be perceived as a cultural guide in society. The dissemination consists in making the genesis and development of architecture and construction available and in promoting their conditions, future and potential. The dissemination is to make it clear to the public at large that architecture and construction create both cultural and material value in society. The dissemination is to promote a culture in which producers and users participate in and influence the creation and preservation of architecture and construction at a highly qualified level.
The activities that are part of the culture profile refer particularly to:
One of the world's most influential and internationally recognised architects; the Dutchman Rem Koolhaas and his design office OMA, has designed a new project at Bryghusgrunden in Copenhagen.
The project is composed of a multi-functional building with a number of external activities including the Danish Architecture Centre (DAC), café and restaurant, housing, offices, various playgrounds and a large underground car park. Placed in the centre of the building, DAC reaches into the heart of the building and creates a broad range of interactions between the different programme parts.
Kent Martinussen, CEO, Danish Architecture Centre about the project:
"DAC has found it amazingly inspiring to work with Rem Koolhaas/OMA and Realdania; creating proposals for the settings of this architectural and urban development centre of the 21st century. With Bryghusprojektet OMA has not merely designed a building with new premises for DAC – they have also contributed with surprising ideas on how DAC, as a public institution, can encourage people to use and experience the overall urban area between the Metropolis zone and Slotsholmen".
"At the same time, OMA has created internal frameworks for DAC which will lay down completely new international standards for how the audience might be included in the presentation of architecture and urban development. Bryghusprojektet is a unique chance for Denmark to acquire an architectural centre of international standard, matching the Danish architectural tradition".
Links:
[1] http://www.dac.dk/visArtikel.asp?artikelID=4086
[2] http://www.bryghusprojektet.dk/