New Architecture in Copenhagen
Press feature
January 2009
New Architecture in Copenhagen
Water, space and light. Those are the key elements of the recent architectural boom in Copenhagen. During the last decade, celebrated architects such as Sir Norman Foster, Henning Larsen, Jean Nouvel and Daniel Libeskind have all left their mark on the Danish capital. The emergence of bold urban planning and world-class architecture is found in three key areas: Ørestad, Copenhagen Port and Copenhagen city.
ØRESTAD
On the island of Amager, home to Copenhagen International Airport lies an area of intense architectural activity. Ørestad is more than the latest phase of urban planning. It is a new city.
The strategy for the 3.1 million m2 Ørestad development was fought for in the international arena. The eventual winner was a firm of young Finnish architects called ARKKI, which impressed the judges by:
-
Linking city and landscape
- Granting good access for pedestrians and cyclists
- Integrating Canals and lakes into the design
-
Raising the metro on columns
Clearly, circulation is to play a dominant, even dramatic, role in the scheme.
The new city's four neighbourhoods, Ørestad City, Ørestad North, Amager Fælled and Ørestad South are connected by a spine created by the central canal and Ørestads Boulevard. Of these, Ørestad City and Ørestad North are the closest to being fully realised, although work has also begun on Ørestad South, and already the essential characteristics of the design are emerging.
Amager is extremely flat. This horizontality is articulated on different levels by mixing the raised metro link with bicycle trails and footpaths, and emphasised by contrasting the flat landscape with new buildings of great density and height.
Ørestad North sidles up to Islands Brygge along the wharf opposite mainland Copenhagen. It has been described as Copenhagen's new knowledge centre for culture, media and communication - a social laboratory for new ways of living in a network society. Construction work on the North Ørestad area is due to be completed by the end of 2012.
Here you will find Denmark's most controversial new building, DR Byen, the new home of national Danish broadcasting and DR Radio Concert Hall (grand opening 17 January 2009). The master plan, designed by The Vilhelm Lauritzen Partnership, is inspired by the Middle Eastern ‘casbah' form. Thus an interior street serves as a meeting place for employees and visitors, and links the four main studios, each of which has been designed by a different architect.
The building's exterior is a series of giant blue screens. During the day its transparency reveals the movies and animations projected on the internal walls and surfaces of the ‘casbah.' At night, the building morphs into a stack of giant televisions as moving images are projected onto its external skin.
The controversy surrounding the scheme was sparked by the largest of the four studios, which also functions as a world-class concert venue. Designed by flamboyant French architect Jean Novel, whose projects are infamous for both their imaginative solutions and extravagant budgets, the construction soon faced spiralling costs.
Next door to the DR Byen is the new ITU - Information Technology University - Building. This is an appropriately high-tech composition of steel, concrete and glass by Henning Larsen in collaboration with Carl Bro which effectively exploits the flow of light from the surrounding canal system.
The ITU Building's main atrium features cantilevered meeting rooms that jut out into the six-storey central space. Like its new neighbour, projections enliven the interior's planar surfaces, and the atrium has become a popular venue for international conferences and business meetings.
A third building that has garnered international acclaim is only a 3-minute walk from the ITU. Tietgenkollegiet is more than just a hall of residence for students of Copenhagen University - it is an architectural study in communal living space, and as such was nominated for the 2007 Mies van der Rohe Award.
Peter Thorsen, chief architect on the project by The Lundgaard & Tranberg Partnership, explains the origins of the building's striking concept: ‘While we were sitting discussing the generally angular architecture that characterises Ørestad, someone placed a stack of dinner plates in the middle of the table. That brought our pencils rapidly to life, and the round shape set our thoughts going around the living space that a student residence represents - the interplay between the shared and the individual in modern college life.'
Ørestad City, the second neighbourhood of Ørestad under development, is being developed after a master plan created by the internationally renowned architect Daniel Libeskind. Libeskind's scheme, expected to be completed by the end of 2015, includes an elliptical central plaza, a pedestrianised main street and twin 20-storey towers. Models of the scheme show the towers' curving, tilting facades, perhaps meant to reference the spires that mark out the main public spaces of Copenhagen's mediaeval centre.
The scheme encompasses two major buildings that have already been completed. The first is the Ferring Pharmaceutical Building, which at 80 metres is the tallest building in Ørestad to date. Designed by Henning Larsen, this slim tower acts as a beacon for traffic driving to and from Øresund Bridge, and provides its occupants with fabulous views over Amagerfælled.
Ørestad City also plays host to Field's Shopping Centre. C.F. Møller Architects have provided Ørestad with the largest shopping mall in Scandinavia, offering more than 150 shops under one roof.
COPENHAGEN PORT
In 2000 two Dutch architectural firms, WEST 8 and Sjoerd Soeters, and the Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects, proposed a major redevelopment plan for the Copenhagen Port area. Industry had largely disappeared from the three main ports, Inderhavn (The Inner harbour), Nordhavn (The Northern Harbour) and Sydhavn (The Southern Harbour), so the Copenhagen authorities welcomed a scheme that promised to inject new life into the area with open arms. Results of urban regeneration projects can already be seen in the new waterfront apartments, cycling and pedestrian bridges and, most spectacularly of all, new buildings for art and culture.
A precursor to the waterfront redevelopment programme is the 1999 extension to the 15th century Royal Library. Known as The Black Diamond, it has already become an icon of the new, progressive Copenhagen. The Danish architecture firm Schmidt, Hammer and Lassen won the international competition with a design that employs black granite - mined in Zimbabwe, cut and polished in Northern Italy - inclined facades and angled bridges to interact with both the waterfront and the traffic that passes through the core of the building.
At night the clear glazing of the atrium bisects the Black Diamond's granite cladding. Ribbons of light from the illuminated offices add a touch of abstract composition to the waterfront facade. However, perhaps the most striking feature for the visitor approaching from street level is the continuous glazing at street level that makes the entire building appear to float above ground.
Perhaps the most prominent building to have been built in the Copenhagen Ports area is the new Copenhagen Opera House. Financed by the A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation, Henning Larsen's design is an uncompromising symbol of confidence and power - a far remove from the often ‘democratic' palette of Danish design. Opened in January 2005, the Opera House commands a site directly over the water from Amalienborg Palace, the home of the Danish royal family.
The Opera House's five-storey glass facade bulges beneath an enormous 158 metre-long cantilevered roof 32 metres of which is pure overhang. Covering an area of 41000 m2 with more than 1100 rooms the building required 2.4 million hours from 3500 workers, consultants and experts to complete.
As well as a hi-tech auditorium that seats 1400 people and subterranean rehearsal room cum recording studio 50m below sea-level, the opera house's foyer plays host to some exquisite artwork including four bronze reliefs by Per Kirkeby and three light sculptures by Olafur Eliasson.
On the opposite bank of the same canal The Danish Royal Theatre, which has been sharing the Royal Theatre building on Kongen Nytorv with The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet, is preparing to move into its Royal Danish Playhouse, which is due to be inaugurated in February in 2008.
Boje Lundgaard and Lene Tranberg, senior partners at C.F. Møller Architects, won the international competition with their design which provides two theatres - the larger of which seats 750 while its smaller sibling seats 275 - a restaurant and a generous public space that extends to the waterfront and commands views over Copenhagen's shipping canal.
When Sojakagefabrikken closed down in 1991, the opportunity to create a new neighbourhood with the twin seed silos as its centrepiece arose. Architectural firm MVRDV clipped a lightweight steel and glass structure to the exterior of the concrete cylinders to maximise views over the harbour and environs, leaving the interior of the silos free to function as an atrium. Ramps and sculptural staircases protrude into the central space and Spiral upward to the twin glass domes. This integration of old industrial forms and modern apartments is poetic in its simplicity.
COPENHAGEN AND ENVIRONS
The Danish Jewish Museum opened in 2004 as an international celebration of Danish-Jewish history. Daniel Libskind restyled the interior of the 17th Century former Royal Boathouse using forms abstracted from the Hebrew word ‘Mitzvah' which means ‘good deed' or ‘deeply felt reaction.' This highly conceptual motif can be experienced in the tilted surfaces, slashed glazing and floor plan of the corridor that leads visitors through the exhibition spaces.
As Daniel Libeskind explains, ‘The intertwining of the old structure... and the unexpected connection to the unique exhibition space create a dynamic dialogue between architecture of the past and of the future - the newness of the old and the agelessness of the new.'
A very different integration of old and new architecture has been realised at Ordrupgaard, Charlottenlund. The extension to the Ordrupgaard art gallery opened in August 2005 and has produced an equally dramatic exhibition space. Only this time it is the landscape rather than history that provided the inspiration for the forms the architect, Iraki-born Zaha Hadid, adopted. The flowing lines of concrete and glass follow the gentle undulation of the North Sjælland landscape. In fact, Zaha Hadid has declared his deeply analytical approach as a way to ‘break the code of the landscape, interpret it in diagrams and translate it to structural models.'
Although Arne Jakobsen's Radisson SAS Royal Hotel was completed in 1960, it deserves to take its place in any consideration of new architecture in the Øresund region simply because Jakobsen is considered to be the godfather of Danish design. Any modern architectural pilgrimage to the Øresund Region should include a visit to room 606, which is maintained as a shrine to its designer, featuring the original furniture and fittings. And in the hotel restaurant Alberto K on the 20th floor you will still be dining with Jakobsen's space-age cutlery, which was used in the film ‘2001 - A Space Odyssey.'
It might come as a surprise to learn that one of the largest attractions in Denmark, visited by over 1.2 million guests every year, is Copenhagen Zoo. It's largest animals, the group of Indian elephants, are during 2008 to be re-housed in a new and ambitious complex to replace the cramped 1914 enclosure. The design by English hi-tech architect Sir Norman Foster aims to restore the visual relationship between the zoo and Frederiksberg Park as well as provide the elephants themselves with a stimulating environment.
The new enclosure takes advantage of the latest research into elephant behaviour and habitat, enabling the elephants to sleep together and play in the mud holes and dry riverbeds just as they would in the wild.
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek's French Wing, which has been called, ‘A masterpiece of light and space,' represents another triumph for Danish architect Henning Larsen. The new extension opened in 1996 and houses the museum's collection of French painting. Larsen has gone to great lengths to show the art in an authentic Mediterranean setting by employing the bright Italian plasterwork ‘Stucco Lustro.'
The 1998 Extension to Denmark's National Gallery by Anna Maria Indrio of C.F.Møller Architects was the result of an international design competition, and although many such competitions for cultural buildings were held in the decade leading to 1998, the National Gallery Extension was the only one that was realised.
The extension, which now houses the museum's modern art collection, occupies a space between the rear of the original building and the surrounding parkland. The two buildings are linked by a series of steel and glass bridges that span the glass-roofed volume between them. This means the two buildings, and the collections they house, can be experienced as two separate entities interacting across a time lapse of 200 hundred years.
A visit to the Danish Architecture Centre on Strandgade is a must for anybody interested in the future of architecture and urban planning. The DAC's mission is to discover and disseminate innovative work in architecture and construction that will have an impact on global planning. The centre has a frequently updated schedule of temporary exhibitions featuring artists, engineers and designers from all over the world.
One of DAC's projects `Copenhagen X´ facilitates and disseminates information on urban development, building projects, architectural visions and innovation in the Danish capital. With a digital presentation of the capital's development, an annual printed guide, debate events and tours around the city. Experience the city on your own with a podwalk - a guided tour on a sound file downloaded to your mp3 player - told by architects, residents, mayors and other voices of the city Copenhagen X was set up in 2002 and will continue until 2012.
Finally, no survey, however brief, would be complete without mentioning the new Cph ADD (Copenhagen Architecture & Design Days) Festival that took place for the first time in May 2006. This annual event is designed to appeal to a broad audience and includes tailor-made guided tours, access to places normally out-of-bounds to the public and extended opening hours to key museums and buildings of interest in Copenhagen and the Øresund region.
As we have seen, Øresund plays host to a wealth of architecture by local designers such as Henning Larsen and Arne Jacobsen as well as international star architects such as Zarah Hadid, Jean Nouvel, Norman Foster and Daniel Libeskind, all of whom have left their unique stamp on the region. The Cph ADD is a celebration of the region's confidence and sense of style in the new millennium, and what's more, many of the events and activities on offer are free of charge.
Mentioned in this feature:
|
Ørestad |
DR Radio Concert Hall (2009) |
|
ITU Building |
Tietgenkollegiet |
|
Ferring Pharmeceuticals Building |
The Black Diamond |
|
The Opera |
The Royal Danish Playhouse |
|
MVRDV |
The Danish Jewish Museum |
|
Ordrupgaard |
SAS Hotel |
|
Elephant House, Copenhagen Zoo |
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, French Wing |
|
National Gallery |
Danish Architecture Centre |
|
Cph ADD, |
Copenhagen Port |
|
Copenhagen X |
