CONTEXT: Venice Architecture Biennale / Aarhus School of Architecture / 2012

CATEGORY: Research / Architecture / Exhibition

In a world where the climate is changing rapidly, Greenland has become the center of attention. At the same time it is the next place the World expects to find oil.
It is a paradox, that the place most visibly affected by climate change, might become one of the next big oil industries.

To enroll in global matters, Greenland seeks independence from Denmark and naturally tries to define themselves as a nation – but how to empower a cultural identity in all of this? How do you stay a whole, when everybody wants a piece of you?

A strong carrier of culture that spans across age, sex, education and wealth is food. But what is greenlandic food culture? And can this keep global attention if there is no oil to be found?
At the moment the primary export of Greenland is seafood.

If there is no oil to export, will Greenland still be able to become the kind of nation it’s citizens want? Is there economic, as well as self-empowering, potential to harvest in developing greenlandic produce?

This project applies trends from high end gastronomy and uses the mechanisms of the fast food industry, to focus on the development and consumption of Greenlandic produce. Creating a new modern identity in the Greenlandic cuisine based on an understanding of the traditions and techniques of the hunting culture.

The idea is to make New Arctic Cuisine a public space through gastronomic evolution. Proposing a development of unique Greenlandic food to export globally, but also to create fast food restaurants within Greenland, with healthy food, hoping that this will be beneficial to the Greenlandic people, and that Greenlandic youth may find themselves ‘hanging out’, like western youth, in fast food joints, malls etc. As Greenland becomes more and more globalized, western fast food culture gains ground as an alternative to traditional Greenlandic food – but what is fast food? Can it be locally anchored, healthy, beautiful and seasonal food? – and thereby use some of the unreleased biotic potentials of Greenland?

The project in it’s full form was exhibited at the Danish Pavillion at Venice Architecture Biennale 2012 under the common theme Possible Greenland, curated by Danish Architecture Center.

MEDIUM: Research, Origami, Rhino, Keyshot Render, Photoshop