DAMPA_75_years_of_quiet_design_ENG - Flipbook - Page 48
Industrial clients became a further significant category and
the first of these was a successful clothing company in
Viborg named Asani. Founded in 1930 by the brothers Aage
and Niels Sørensen, by 1950 its factory was employing no
fewer than 400 in the making of fashion garments and
underwear. Most unfortunately, in the following September,
it burned down and so a replacement was urgently commissioned from the local architects Fritz and Jens Madsen.
Their up-to-date solution had roof sections of 45-degree
pitch, interspersed by glazed clerestories, the soffits being
clad in Dæmpa panels to absorb the clatter of the hundreds
of sewing machines. As soon as the first section was erected in 1953, clothing production was begun, although it was
not until 1955 that the official inauguration took place when
the whole complex was completed. In the 1960s, Asani was
Viborg’s biggest employer – but in 1970 disaster struck once
more when a devastating fire destroyed everything. Facing
sharply rising wage and materials costs in addition to the
expense of rebuilding, Asani never fully recovered.
48
