Friday 2 December 2011

Photo Journal: Copenhagen 10.2011 (part 1)




Places of Interests

The city hall carries a strong whiff of Nordic
 culture manifested as architectural features.

Bronze fountain with mythical sea creatures
outside the city hall.

Café Paludan to enjoy coffee with
heaps of books for company.

A place where real candles are lit.  Fire is not enough risk.

Illums Bolighus home store.  Be converted to Scandinavian chic.


A house of top quality furnishing products in museum scale.


Eccentric looking Grundtvig’s Church, 1940 at Bispebjerg
by P V Jensen Klint.  The expressionist building is alive and kicking beyond architectural history books.


A closer look of the unique yellow brickworks -
quite unworldly an entrance.


The interior with no-frills decoration, a yardstick for minimalist designers today.

More of the church and its architect at here.


The Royal Library by Schmidt Hammer Lassen in 1999.  Affectionately called the Black Diamond with black granite cladded exterior set against the sunset.

A modern interior with unmistakable Nordic curved walls.  For architectural buffs, make sure to visit the subtle transition where the old library meets the new.  Sundial ran out of battery on the day unfortunately, no photo of this part can be shared.

Bronze mermaid guarding the black diamond;
it is visually more engaging than the famous one.


 Passed the touristy canal cafes at Nyhavn, the Playhouse of the Royal Theatre at Kvaesthusbroen marks a new cultural district.


Exhibition pavilions along the pier of the Playhouse; at the background is the new opera house of the Royal Theatre.

Cultured locals come here for
 coffee and canal watching.



Danes ride the bicycle in style







Coffee man and his upmarket tricycle.

One has to see to believe: the Danes do not lock their bikes!

International competition at city centre
during the time of visit.

Smart police attire and their bikes.



Ørestad


A strip-like new town at the south of Copenhagen with high aims for creativity and sustainability, it commands an execellent collection of contemporary architecture.  The master plan is developed by Daniel Libeskind and buildings designed by star stunned architects.  Young local teams, BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) and Lundgaard & Tranberg Arkitekter, managed to snatch up a number of projects.



Research Centre at the IT University.



Campus Building at the IT University


Student residence of Tietgenkollegiet near the IT University.


Circular courtyard inside the student residence.

University residence as zigzagged linear blocks,
thus named “Housing Snake”.



Studio/small apartments on pilotis with
identity forming elevations.


Central park with private apartments at the background.


Curvilinear balconies dominate the exterior
of the private apartments.


Unmanned metro link connecting Ørestad with the old town of Copenhagen.  "Mountain Dwelling" by BIG can be seen at the left.


“Mountain Dwelling” originates with a brilliant concept of apartment-cum-terrace raised above carparks.  Silkscreened snow mountain, representing the carpark storeys anchored on ground, offers poetic imagery.  (photo from www.bustler.net)


Aerial view of Ørestad City from the north.  Notice the metro link cutting in the middle.  (Photo from www.orestad.emu.dk)


Ørestad City in relation to the old town 
towards the north.  (Drawing from www.byoghavn.dk)















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