Copenhagen
I love walking around Copenhagen.
Hotel Recommendations
The Radisson Collection Royal Hotel was designed both inside and out by Arne Jacobsen. It began life as the SAS Royal Hotel and has gone through some transformations and modernizations, but you can still get a room with Drop, Swan, or Egg (Chairs I would like to own someday) in them, and the central staircase remains true to Jacobsen’s original vision.
Here’s a thread I wrote on the hotel and its interior:
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Hotel Alexandra is basically a Danish furniture museum you can sleep in. If you have a favorite deisgner, mention that when you’re booking.
I wrote a thread about my stay here as well:
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Architecutre
Look around. There are gorgeous buildings both new and old all around you. Below are some of my favorites that I managed to snap pictures of.
Axel Towers
Axel Towers is curvy and rusty and provides some interesting wayfinding challenges.
The Royal Danish Opera House
It’s big. It’s bold. It’s usually on the other side of the harbor from me.
The Royal Danish Library
The Black Diamond is a modern extension of the older library building. It has a striking glass center section when viewed from the waterfront, but I also love the elevated street crossings and connection to the older structure.
Nyhavn
It’s a tourist trap, but you should go anyway. It’s most picturesque at sunset.
Ørestad
I took the metro to Ørestad one morning and did an informal walking tour of several buildings designed by Bjarke Ingles Group and a few others that caught my eye.
8 Tallet (8 House)
At the very end of the faux penninsula next to wetlands and walking trails lies 8 Tallet. Completed in 2010, there’s no doubt that it’s a Bjarke Ingles joint. You can book a tour given by one of its residents.
Viewed from the south you can see the restaurant, grass roof, and angled balconies of the residences.
Urban parks can be found everywhere in Ørestad. This picnic table bench lies to the south of the building.
VIewed from the street, the east side of 8 Tallet shows the gradual rise of balconies and bollards blocking vechicle access to the park. Visitors are requested to not walk up the balconies, which are accessible from the street.
This is the center of 8 Tallet, where the figure 8 crosses over itself.
This inner part of the northern loop contains earthen mounds and growing trees.
8 Tallet’s unique layout is a wayfinding challenge. These “you are here” diagrams can be found throughout the building.
VM Houses
VM Houses were a collaboration between BIG and JDS Architects.
The triangular balconies are striking from many angles.
I would love to sip coffee on one of these balconies in the morning or relax and watch the sun set in the evening.
VM Mountain
The concept of VM Mountain is “what if we built apartments around a parking garage but it didn’t suck?” It’s another BIG+JDS collab.
The parking structure doesn’t try to hide. It’s right there.
The terraced balconies take a more organic form from the residences.
Ørestad Plejcenter
Just up the street and across a shallow canal from 8 Tallet is Ørestad Plejcenter, a retirement community. It was designed by JJW Arkitekter.
The cubist windows are fun to look at and catch your attention.
Different shades of green contrast with darker colors of the more traditional parts of the project.
Winghouse
Yep. It’s called Winghouse. It looks like a wing. I love it. It was designed by Hennig Larsen.
It’s an office building and Nokia Danmark A/S is one of the flagship tenants.
Royal Arena
Before hopping back on the metro I grabbed a picture of the Royal Arena from some sport courts adjacent to Field’s, a giant indoor shopping mall.
3XN were the primary architects and worked with HKSwho know a lot about arenas.