Defining balconies?

Next to the Mountain dwellings is an earlier building of Bjarke Ingles, VM housing. Although I also knew this building from photographs, I did not realize I was right next to it. The quintessential picture of this building is from the balcony side and I came from the other side.

According to a podcast from the Danish Architecture Center the balconies do remind some of the (in)famous Titanic movie scene. The outward orientation of the balconies contrasts with the more standard sideways orientation of balconies and is intended to increase contact between the people living in the apartments. 

 

Also contrasting with standard apartment buildings are the 100 different types of apartments to cater to a mix of people and livestyles. The modernist idea that there is one ultimate architectural solution suited for all people whatever their background or family situation has been abandoned. Other features that seem to aim at fostering a sense of community are a big fireplace and play areas next  to the building. The architecture signals that lessons have been learned from the modernist anonymous apartment blocks build in the sixties and seventies.

  

The shape of VM balconies prevent separations between neighbors which you find in standard apartment buildings. However, standing under the balconies made me curious about the psychological effect of the spatial organization of the balconies. There is a reason why we say we look up to someone we respect -  our biological wiring makes us associate being physically on top with social dominance. 

It made me wonder if people on the lower balconies feel the others look down on them in a psychological sense as well. Would be interesting to research if the balconies not only define the picture of the building in architecture magazines, but also the social interactions among its inhabitants.

Architect: BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group)  |  Completion: 2005  |  Location: Copenhagen.