September 31, 2010 at 9:00 a.m., the last corner of Enghave Plads under the chestnut tree was closed off to beer drinkers due to Metro construction. This meant that a group of 30-100 beer drinkers who had the square as their social network no longer had a place to gather.

As an artist, I found it interesting to show authorities and society how to take responsibility for their vulnerable citizens in a way that enriches everyone. That's why I collaborated with Thomas Egholm from Vesterbro Local Council, Spektrum Architects, urban sociologist Simon Mertner Vind and architect Chalotte Vad to find a new place for them.

We have created a process that has involved the beer drinkers to an extreme degree. They have helped choose where the new location should be, they have been involved in all the planning and decision-making - and then they have been involved in building the new location themselves.

One goal on my part has been to show that all people - regardless of social status - can contribute at least as much to urban development as anyone with a professional education. They can do this because they possess a deep understanding of the context in which they find themselves. In other words, beer drinkers are 'super users' of this kind of public space. They are there most of the day, all week, all year round. No urban planners, anthropologists, architects or municipal people have as much insight into the urban spaces that beer drinkers use. And it has been our task to translate that insight into physical and procedural solutions - and to make them aware that they have this knowledge.

The project is an extension of the report from the Ministry of Social Affairs 'The City as a Living Room', which was made by Hausenberg, Spektrum Architects and visual artist Kenneth A. Balfelt. The report provides guidelines for how we can design urban spaces with the socially disadvantaged and recommends a high degree of involvement of the disadvantaged. The report can be downloaded here

more on this project

• Article | Temporariness up for debate (in Danish)

• Article | Cheers! (in Danish)

• PROCESS | Enghave Minipark