Aarhus City Hall is the city hall of

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. The decision to build a new city hall was taken during a city hall meeting in 1937. The new building was inaugurated 2 June 1941, designed by architects

Arne Jacobsen Arne Emil Jacobsen, Hon. FAIA () 11 February 1902 – 24 March 1971) was a Danish architect and furniture designer. He is remembered for his contribution to architectural functionalism and for the worldwide success he enjoyed with simple we ...

and

Erik Møller Svend Erik Møller (7 November 1909 – 24 March 2002) was a Danish architect. Møller used to work with the famous Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen. Together they won the competition to design the new City Hall in Aarhus, which was ...

. On the first proposal, the plans did not include a tower but due to massive public pressure it was later added to the drawings along with the idea to clad the structure in marble.

Hans Wegner Hans Jørgensen Wegner (April 2, 1914 - January 26, 2007) was a Danish furniture designer. His work, along with a concerted effort from several of his manufacturers, contributed to the international popularity of mid-century Danish design. His sty ...

was in charge of the furnishing - which is uniquely designed to fit the building -, and parts of the interior design.

Architecture and design

The city hall has a total area of 19,380 m² including the basement. The tower is 60 m tall and the tower clock face has a diameter of 7 m. The building is made of concrete plated with 6,000 m² of grey

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

from

Porsgrunn is a city and municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. The municipality of Porsgrunn w ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. On the outside, copper is used for many architectural details, signified by the characteristic green

verdigris Verdigris is the common name for blue-green, copper-based pigments that form a patina on copper, bronze, and brass. The technical literature is ambiguous as to its chemical composition. Some sources refer to "neutral verdigris" as copper(II) ac ...

. The interior is more luscious in its expression with oaken

parquet floor Parquet (; French for "a small compartment") is a geometric mosaic of wood pieces used for decorative effect in flooring. Parquet patterns are often entirely geometrical and angular—squares, triangles, lozenges—but may contain curves. T ...

s, ceramic tile floors in various patterns, specially designed wooden furniture, glass walls, wooden walls and large wall paintings and decorations. Inside,

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

and

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

is used for metal architectural details. The price for the building was 9.5 mio. DKR, including the cost of the land area and inventory which in itself comprised 1.5 mio. DKR. As one of just a few Danish city halls, it was marked for preservation in March 1994 because of its unique architecture and design. In January 2006, the city hall was included in the

Danish Culture Canon The Danish Culture Canon ( da, Kulturkanonen) consists of 108 works of cultural excellence in eight categories: architecture, visual arts, design and crafts, film, literature, music, performing arts, and children's culture. An initiative of Brian ...

under architecture. The city hall features as the main location of the short film Nada - Act II by Slovenian artist Jasmina Cibic. File:Arne jacobsen, aarhus town hall 1937-1942 2.jpg, Interior File:Arne jacobsen, aarhus town hall 1937-1942 (1).jpg, Staircase File:Arne jacobsen, aarhus town hall 1937-1942.jpg, Staircase File:Park alle.JPG, By night

Former city halls

Aarhus has officially had two former city halls. The first was erected in the middle of the 15th century and was situated in front of the tower of the

Aarhus Cathedral Aarhus Cathedral ( da, Århus Domkirke) is a cathedral in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the longest and tallest church in the country, at in length and in height. The construction of Aarhus Cathedral began in the 12th century and it is the main edific ...

. It was demolished in 1859. The second city hall was erected during 1856 and 1857, immediately northeast of the Cathedral. Officially it was city hall,

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

and penitentiary. From 1856 to 1906, the county councils also held their meetings in the building and the Aarhus art museum, that now has evolved to become the ARoS art museum, started out in the attic in 1859. When the building was not needed as a city hall any longer due to the erection of the present city hall, the building was in use as a police station between 1941 and 1984. Today the building houses

Kvindemuseet KØN - Gender Museum Denmark, formerly Kvindemuseet (Women's Museum), is a history museum in Aarhus, Denmark focused on the cultural history of gender and sexuality in Denmark. KØN was originally founded in 1982 as a women's history museum, an ...

, a museum for women's culture and history in Denmark.

Surroundings

The Aarhus City Hall is situated in '' Rådhusparken'' (The City Hall Park). The park is rather small, but marks the main entrance to the city for travellers arriving at the

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

close by and hosts various events throughout the year. The City Hall Park connects with the park area in front of

The Concert Hall of Aarhus ''Musikhuset Aarhus'' (Aarhus Concert Hall) is a large concert hall complex in Aarhus, Denmark. Located in the city centre, Musikhuset is Aarhus' main venue for music and with seating for more than 3,600 people in total, it is the largest concert ...

( da, Musikhuset) and leads to the central square of ''Rådhuspladsen'' (The City Hall Square).

Sources

*''Byens hus'', Erhvervsarkivet 1991

References

External links

Photos of the City Hall and the park
arslonga.dk
''A Lovable House'': an architectural documentary about Aarhus City Hall
{{Authority control Government buildings completed in 1941 Towers completed in 1941 Arne Jacobsen buildings Listed city and town halls in Denmark Modernist architecture in Aarhus City and town halls in Denmark

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

Danish Culture Canon Functionalist architecture in Aarhus 1941 establishments in Denmark