Architecture and performance. The Velvet State by SJHworks for the Roskilde festival.

The latest project by Danish architect, Simon Hjermind Jensen is a temporary sculpture for performances, creating an architecture as a huge carved sculpture for people to enter and walk through.



Simon Hjermind Jensen from SHJWORKS designed the iconic Fire Shelter just outside Copenhagen. His experimental work with self-constructed projects did not go unobserved and so he was appointed to create a space for performances during the Roskilde music festival in Denmark.



“The Velvet State” is the result of ongoing dialogue between the architect and the performers, exploring the idea of a society with the sensual and poetic perception of the world at its centre.



SHJWORKS explored this idea further and came up with a physical structure that covers 794 square metres, the highest point being 7 metres and consisting of 7 parts.



Plywood – in varying thicknesses – was used for the shells, put together with bolts and “stitched” with polycarbonate. Each piece of wood was folded and assembled over the same curve as the section and a sequence of sections forms each part, so the shells actually support the structure.





The sinuous sensuality of “The Velvet State” is stressed by plays of light to attain an experience that reflects the close collaboration between the architectural team and the performers, combining two disciplines in a single structure.



This sculpture means something different to each person, revealing itself through the universal language of the performance.

SHJWORKS http://shjworks.dk
Architectural team:
Simon Hjermind Jensen, head of design and project leader.
Christian Bøcker Sørensen, architect and site manager.
Henri Käpynen, architectural and design assistant.
Mads Bryld Sørensen, assisting site manager.
Location: Roskilde, Denmark
Year: 2013
Photos: Simon Hjermind Jensen, Henri Käpynen, Christian Bøcker Sørensen, Inga Gerner Nielsen, Lasse Ryberg, Yeray Lopez