Press Information
May 2008 

Culture on the Waterfront

Denmark's first purpose built opera house is located on Holmen, just across the water from the royal palace of Amalienborg. The DKK 2,5 billion project houses the Copenhagen Opera House and is a donation from the Danish ship-owner Sir Mærsk McKinney Møller. The studio of world renowned Danish architect Henning Larsen (famous for his foreign ministry building in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and countless buildings in Denmark) is responsible for its design.

Meanwhile, the Royal Theatre (which currently shares the Royal Theatre building on Kongens Nytorv with the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet) is also to have a new home. In February 2008, the Royal Theatre's and Danish theatre's new Playhouse opened at Kvæsthusbroen by the Copenhagen harbour front.

The Danish architects Boje Lundgaard and Lene Tranberg won the design competition and the construction began in 2004. The playhouse contains two theatres - a large one with seating for 750 people and a smaller one with seating for 275 - as well as a restaurant, a café, and a large public space in front of the building with a view over the rest of the waterfront.

The old, charming Pakhus C (Warehouse C) from 1767, situated on Christianshavn is known as Nordatlantens Brygge (North Atlantic House). It is a new arts centre with showroom, and also houses the embassy of Iceland and the 'North Atlantic' Restaurant Noma. The restaurant serves modern Nordic/North Atlantic food.

The ambitious new projects are the most recent examples of the way in which Copenhagen embraces its waterside location. Wherever you walk in central Copenhagen, you are never far from water, whether it is the city's ancient canals; the harbour front; or the former military area of Holmen, home to several artistic and educational institutions.

At Kalvebod Brygge, on an artificial island, a new hotel was inaugurated in 2006, The Copenhagen Island Hotel. Architect Kim Utzon has designed the building for the Arp-Hansen Hotel Group. 50% of the rooms have a view to the water and the building interplays with water and light owing to its unique location.

Directly on the waterfront, in what used to be a hydrofoil-boat-terminal, a new restaurant palace with three restaurants, two bars, a delicatessen and a bakery opened in November 2006: Custom House. The building dates back to 1937 and is built in a distinct functionalistic ‘jazz-modern’ style. This is a gastronomic lifestyle temple of the kind that Sir Terence Conran has opened quite a number in London since the 1990’s.

The super-modern minimalism of Søren K, the restaurant in the Black Diamond, has won praise from the Danish press. Viva in a converted ferryboat moored in the CPH Harbour is a restaurant with room for 60 indoors and a roof terrace with café on the quay. They specialize in shell- and crayfish, but also cater for the more traditional meat-eater all with a Danish/Mediterranean twist

Architecture
Built on land reclaimed in the 17th century as a home for the Danish military, Holmen's redbrick warehouses, barracks and foundries are now used by students, exhibition-goers, diners, and night clubbers. Holmen is the home of schools specialising in drama, film, design, architecture, and music, and these creative students have done a great effort to revive the fortunes of the area.

Of special interest to architecture fans visiting Holmen will be the Royal Danish School of Architecture, which holds regular exhibitions in Meldahls Smedie. They should also take a trip to Gammel Dok, located in a beautiful converted warehouse, overlooking the harbour on Christianshavn. This is the location for the Centre for Danish Architecture, which hosts changing exhibitions and has a fine café and bookshop. Exhibitions are often accompanied by debates, conferences and lectures.

The Black Diamond
The most spectacular recent addition to Copenhagen's waterfront scene (1999) is the granite and glass extension to the Royal Library. Nicknamed the "Black Diamond", the new extension was designed by the Danish architect studio Schmidt, Hammer and Lassen, and it houses not just books but a concert hall, exhibition space, book shop, café and superb quality modern Scandinavian restaurant, Søren K. Every spring, the Black Diamond (in association with the Royal Theatre) co-hosts the Copenhagen Opera Festival.

Sculpture
One of Copenhagen's great art collections is Den Kongelige Afstøbningssamling (the Royal Cast Collection), which lies beside the harbour on Langelinie. This unusual museum houses a collection of over 2,000 plaster casts of the world's most outstanding and famous sculptures. Only open on Wednesdays from 10am to 8pm, admission free.

And finally, if you are looking for the world-famous statue of the Little Mermaid, then head for Langelinie. Hans Christian Andersen first published the beloved fairy-tale of the Little Mermaid in 1837 and, in 1913, the Carlsberg Brewery gave the bronze statue to the city of Copenhagen.

Places of interest: