The right mood –
material effects in the national association Better Building Practices Architecture
PhD project completed by Pernille Henriette Wiil and completed November 2016
The National Association for Better Building Practice (1915-1965) was founded to raise the architectural quality in the Danish countryside. The National Association's legacy is marked by the notion of 'good craftsmanship in good materials' and by one of Danish architecture's most prominent values 'texture and simplicity'. The dissertation wants to concretize the significance of materials and texture, and therefore explores material and surface effects in Bedre Byggeskik's architecture and architecture program. This is done partly through analyzes of the association's texts, instructions and lectures and partly through analyzes of material and surface effects in three exemplary Better Building Practice houses.
Through an atmospheric theoretical perspective, the dissertation demonstrates that the surfaces, materials and textures of architecture have formative properties, as their radiance matches people's well-being and influences their attitude towards themselves and their surroundings. In continuation of this, it is documented how Bedre Byggeskik's aesthetic project was a public education project. The architecture and its materials were to create an environment in which atmospheres of restraint, diligence, care and order promoted that special states of mentality could thrive in the Danish population.
The project is written by Pernille Henriette Wiil in a collaboration between Museum Vestsjælland and Roskilde University with support from Region Zealand and Realdania.
