Off-Ground — Jair Straschnow and Gitte Nygaard, Copenhagen
Jair Straschnow and Gitte Nygaard · Danish Architecture Centre and Carlsberg City, Copenhagen
Photos: press images of Off-Ground (designboom credits its images as courtesy of Jair Straschnow and Gitte Nygaard), as published on Street Art Utopia; camera dates unconfirmed.
Off-Ground was a set of swing frames for grown-ups by the Amsterdam-based designers Jair Straschnow and Gitte Nygaard. Rejected fire hoses stretched across steel frames could be set as a low seat, a hammock or a swing, and the pieces stood in summer 2013 at the Danish Architecture Centre and at Carlsberg City in Copenhagen. Source Source Source Source Source Checked
Seen Aug 2013: the newest dated reports are from August 2013, when Off-Ground was on view in Copenhagen for the summer. No later sighting was found, so where the pieces are now is unconfirmed. Source Source Source Unconfirmed
💡 5 things to know
- Play for adultsdesignboom describes play for adults as the basis of the design, and Installation Magazine headlined it “Adults at play.” Source Source Checked
- One sling, three usesMoving the ends of a fire-hose sling between notches in the frame turns it into a low seat, a hammock or a swing. Source Source Source Checked
- Rejected fire hosesThe slings are made of fire hoses that had been rejected for their original use; Crowdsourcing Week describes red hose on bright blue steel. Source Source Source Checked
- Born in a residencyThe work came out of a residency at the Danish Art Workshops in spring 2013; Archilovers lists the Workshops as client. Source Source Checked
- Two sites, one summerIt was on view in summer 2013 at the Danish Architecture Centre and at Carlsberg City in Copenhagen. Source Source Source Checked
📍 Where it is
In 2013 the Danish Architecture Centre was in the Gammel Dok warehouse on the Inner Harbour waterfront in Christianshavn; the second set stood in Carlsberg City, the new district on the old Carlsberg brewery site. The installation was temporary, and the centre left Gammel Dok in 2018. Source Source Source Reported
Coordinates of the Gammel Dok building (the former Danish Architecture Centre), not a surveyed spot for the swings. No current location is known.
🗓️ Sightings
- 20135 Aug
Debut in Copenhagen reported · Gizmodo
- 201314 Aug
Red fire hose on blue steel · Crowdsourcing Week
- 201316 Aug
On view at DAC and Carlsberg City · Installation Magazine
- 201320 Aug
Landscape Architect and Specifier News feature
- 201326 Aug
Project page lists both Copenhagen sites · Archilovers
Amber stamps mark records or reports; green stamps are dated photos; red stamps mark removal. Publication dates are not camera dates.
🗞️ In the sources
Adults at play
“on view this summer at DAC, Danish Architecture Centre and at Carlsberg City in Copenhagen”
Swing, lie down, curl up, straddle, sit up
“Steel pipes and rejected fire hoses form alternative seating/play elements for this public space in Copenhagen, Denmark.”
✅ The facts
- Spelling
- Straschnow in most sources; Strashnow on Archilovers and Landscape Architect Source Source Source Conflicting
- Status
- Temporary 2013 installation; current whereabouts unconfirmed Source Source Unconfirmed
🔗 Related
All sources & image credits
- Gizmodo (Eric Limer) — Firehose swings turn the world into a playground — 5 Aug 2013
- designboom — off-ground by jair straschnow + gitte nygaard — 5 Aug 2013
- Crowdsourcing Week (Priti Ambani) — Copenhagen: innovation begins at a public park — 14 Aug 2013
- Installation Magazine — Adults at play — 16 Aug 2013
- Landscape Architect and Specifier News — Swing, lie down, curl up, straddle, sit up — 20 Aug 2013
- Archilovers — Off-Ground (project page) — 26 Aug 2013
- Wikipedia — Gammel Dok (building) (coordinates)
- Hero image: press images of Off-Ground (designboom credits its images as courtesy of Jair Straschnow and Gitte Nygaard), as published on Street Art Utopia; a 16:9 share version was made from it.
Last checked: 8 November 2026 · How we verify art