It’s a cliché, but all architects love maps! They have an ability to reveal truths and lead to deeper understandings of physical places that can be endlessly fascinating. Another cliché is that everyone loves having our prejudices confirmed. This one is both and funny too.
This brilliant map shows pictures taken by locals with blue dots, tourist with red dots and yellow dots could be both.
Everyone in Copenhagen has an easy opportunity right now to take a look at one of the new projects by the world’s darling architect no. 1, Bjarke Ingels / BIG architects.
The project consist of six reused shipping containers refurbished to provide housing for students.
The rigger features a central outdoor space and roof terrace – and jumping in the clean water of the Copenhagen Harbour directly from the living space.
It’s located right now at Havnegade in central harbour.
– just because 38 would seem exaggerated
I stumbled upon this question on Quora.com: What are some of Copenhagen’s best kept secrets?
Great question, so I sat down and started answering and just couldn’t stop.
The result is this never ending list and map as an answer and a resource for anyone to use. The list and very short descriptions are personal but don’t have an architectural focus. However I think this kind of unknown, peculiar places make up a part of the mentality of a city anyway.
Beautiful or horrible, but unexpected.
Copenhagen is world famous for its architecture! We have an exceptional reputation that first and foremost has its roots in the ‘classic’ modern era between 1930 and 1970. Not least 1950s Danish furniture design is still today celebrated world wide for its aesthetics and craftsmanship.
The Harbour Bath examplifies what I consider the most successful urban development in Copenhagen ever. Kalvebod Brygge (opposite side) and Islands Brygge was one of the most industrialized areas in Copenhagen. Now it has turned into one of the most attractive public spaces in town. A truly radical turnaround!
Equally the old, worn out working class neighborhood has gone through a renovation and improvement, subsidized by the city, leading to a strong gentrification. Prices has sky rocketed and the residents is replaced by a younger and better off population.
The tale of the Inner Harbour Bridge is a lot longer than the bridge itself. And it is not the most favorable tale from Danish building industry. After about 3½ years of delay it was completed in 2016. But then it was a great success straight away counting as many as 15.000 bicyclists a day!
Gemini Residence is a conversion of silos from a former industrial factory. The two cylindrical concrete silos are in a clever manner rebuild by hanging apartments on the outside of the structure. The inner space is left as the most spectacular staircase in Copenhagen, with an inflated transparent membrane.
The 8house is a spectacular and world famous project by Denmark’s even more famous ‘starchitect’, Bjarke Ingels, and his firm BIG (Bjake Ingels Group).
The building finished by the end of 2010 and gained stardom especially when it won the prestigious first price for the world’s best residential building at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona in 2011.
The complex houses almost 500 big and small apartments as well as retail shops, offices and a kindergarden, a diversity expressed in the conceptual horizontal layering.
These years when Copenhagen has mentions in international media – which is very often considering it’s size – bikes are almost always mentioned, as if the bikes in Copenhagen was some kind of new revelation. Bikes has existed for well over a century in its present concept, but – in fact it IS a revelation, even so if delayed. From the perspective of urban planning, personal transportation by bike offers a variety of benefits that has never really been seriously considered before the turn of this century.
In this post I’ll give my comment and explanation on one of the special features of Copenhagen that is one of my personal favorites, if not actually my favorite favorite.
(- much delayed)
Before my 10 day break from my architectural guiding this summer, I knew very little about Marseille. The few famous movies that others referred me to (The French Connection as the more famous, I guess), hadn’t really appeared to me as Marseille related movies when I watched it maybe 20 years ago. A vague notion on a big, ancient Mediterranean harbor and industrial city was as far as my trivia reached.
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