The Danish countryside is changing. Schools are closing, jobs are disappearing, and people are packing up and moving to the bigger cities. Left behind are empty buildings, devoid of purpose, and slowly falling into disrepair, decay and ruin. Not only are these slowly decaying buildings considered ugly and dangerous by the local populations – they are painful reminders of a lost golden era. 

In bids to increase these town’s attractiveness, government-funded demolitions have been the common remedy, but with less than ideal results. Today the Danish countryside is home to numerous small, rural towns full of large, empty green lawns, without ownership or purpose, like a game of The Sims, or a smile missing several teeth. Local history is erased, and the town is even less attractive. 

The Living Archives is a project addressing small town renewal and preservation of built history through radical methods, conducted in the spring of 2024 in a collaboration with the Aarhus School of Architecture, the National Museum, and Thisted Kommune. 

Together with a team from Aarhus School of Architecture, and a lot of local stakeholders, EAHR transformed an old doctor’s house into a “living ruin” – a multi-level garden dubbed “Skovtrappen”. It functions as a bridge between the local forest and the town, and  is filled with flowers, bushes and trees from nearby abandoned gardens, as well as concrete platforms misproduced at the nearby concrete factory. 

To complement the very physical living archive constituted by the ruin, EAHR did extensive research and mapping of local histories, and presented them through an audiowalk accessible by scanning QR-codes on the various ruins and empty plots around town. To further build local engagement and ownership, EAHR organised a drawing competition for the local school, and co-arranged the opening ceremony of the transformation.