The composing unconscious: the hand of Copenhagen.

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the relationship of the urban plan of the city of Copenhagen, known as the Finger Plan, with the notion of the dream as a compositional key, an estrangement that, in our hypothesis, is as generative as the rational way. It also imposes the seed of a collective imaginary that guarantees the survival of the plan and, beyond that, of an idea of community. The Danish utopia-based on the search for connection with nature and the implementation of Hygge-will be represented through the symbolism of the hand. This hand shape used, or rather imposed in the projection of the plan, implies the direct linking of the urban structure of the city with the Danish collective dream.

The application of this symbol is understood as a continuation of the use of this anatomical part in artistic history for the expression of the unconscious. Therefore, the possible connotations of the hand in Copenhagen will be discussed through the analysis of artistic works made throughout history: from prehistoric man, through classical art to the surrealist movement.

The Finger Plan will be the beginning of the dreamlike development of the Danish capital, an oft-repeated argument today, but not only in marketing, as we intend to show, where the hand will be crucial to its functioning by social acceptance, and to understand design processes imposed by modern functional and compositional clauses.