![Vor Frelsers Kirke-view8](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Vor_Frelsers_Kirke-view8.jpg)
The architecture of Copenhagen in
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 = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
is characterised by a wide variety of styles, progressing through
Christian IV
Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...
's early 17th century landmarks and the elegant 17th century
mansions and
palaces of
Frederiksstaden
Frederiksstaden is a district in Copenhagen, Denmark. Constructed during the reign of Frederick V in the second half of the 18th century, it is considered to be one of the most important rococo complexes in Europe and was included in the 2006 Danis ...
, to the late 19th century residential boroughs and cultural institutions to the modernistic contribution of the 20th century such as
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 ...
's
National Bank
In banking, the term national bank carries several meanings:
* a bank owned by the state
* an ordinary private bank which operates nationally (as opposed to regionally or locally or even internationally)
* in the United States, an ordinary p ...
and
SAS Royal Hotel.
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
is recognised globally as an exemplar of best practice
urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
. Its thriving mixed use city centre is defined by striking contemporary architecture, engaging public spaces and an abundance of human activity. These design outcomes have been deliberately achieved through careful replanning in the second half of the 20th century, with notable contributions both by leading international architects and a wave of new successful
Danish architects
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
.
Medieval times
The oldest preserved building in Copenhagen's inner city is considered to be the
Church of St. Petri. Its tower, the central
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
and the
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
date back to the 16th century. The most important medieval building in the Copenhagen area is
Roskilde Cathedral
Roskilde Cathedral ( da, Roskilde Domkirke), in the city of Roskilde on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark, is a cathedral of the Lutheranism, Lutheran Church of Denmark.
The cathedral is the most importan ...
from 1170 located in the city of
Roskilde
Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...
west of Copenhagen that used to be the country's capital before Copenhagen.
Renaissance
Over the centuries Copenhagen grew in importance and a number of important landmarks of present-day Copenhagen date back to the late 16th and early 17th centuries. This can also be attributed to the personal effort of
Christian IV
Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...
, who is popularly known as "the builder king" in Denmark because of his legacy of and involvement in large building projects.
Rosenborg Castle
Rosenborg Castle ( da, Rosenborg Slot) is a renaissance castle located in Copenhagen, Denmark. The castle was originally built as a country summerhouse in 1606 and is an example of Christian IV's many architectural projects. It was built in the D ...
and the old
Stock Exchange in central Copenhagen, as well as
Frederiksborg Palace
Frederiksborg Castle ( da, Frederiksborg Slot) is a palatial complex in Hillerød, Denmark. It was built as a royal residence for King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway in the early 17th century, replacing an older castle acquired by Frederick II ...
in
Hillerød
Hillerød () is a Danish town with a population of 35,357 (1 January 2022)[Dutch Renaissance
The Renaissance in the Low Countries was a cultural period in the Northern Renaissance that took place in around the 16th century in the Low Countries (corresponding to modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands and French Flanders).
Culture in the Low C ...]
style, sometimes referred to in Denmark as "Christian IV style". Christian IV also founded the neighbourhoods of
Christianshavn, of
Nyboder
Nyboder (English: New mallHouses) is a historic row house district of former Naval barracks in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was planned and first built by Christian IV to accommodate a need for housing for the personnel of the rapidly growing Royal ...
as well as such important green spaces as
King's Garden and
Kastellet.
Baroque
Baroque buildings in Copenhagen include the
Round Tower
A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and fu ...
and the
Church of Our Saviour as well as
Fredensborg Palace
Fredensborg Palace ( da, Fredensborg Slot; ) is a palace located on the eastern shore of Lake Esrum ( Danish, ''Esrum Sø'') in Fredensborg on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in Denmark. It is the Danish Royal Family’s spring and autumn ...
.
Rococo
Frederiksstaden
Frederiksstaden is a district in Copenhagen, Denmark. Constructed during the reign of Frederick V in the second half of the 18th century, it is considered to be one of the most important rococo complexes in Europe and was included in the 2006 Danis ...
was constructed during the reign of
Frederick V Frederick V or Friedrich V may refer to:
* Frederick V, Duke of Swabia (1164–1170)
*Frederick V, Count of Zollern (d.1289)
*Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg (c. 1333–1398), German noble
*Frederick V of Austria (1415–1493), or Frederick III ...
in the second half of the 18th century and is considered to be one of the most important
Rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
complexes in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
. It was developed to commemorated the 300 years jubilee of the
House of Oldenburg
The House of Oldenburg is a German dynasty with links to Denmark since the 15th century. It has branches that rule or have ruled in Denmark, Iceland, Greece, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Schleswig, Holstein, and Oldenburg. The cu ...
taking the throne in Denmark. Leading the project was
A. G. Moltke, with
Nicolai Eigtved
Nicolai Eigtved, also known as Niels Eigtved (4 June 1701 – 7 June 1754) was a Danish architect. He introduced and was the leading proponent of the French rococo or late baroque style in Danish architecture during the 1730s–1740s. He design ...
as the main architect. Frederiksstaden has
Amalienborg Palace
Amalienborg () is the official residence for the Danish royal family, and is located in Copenhagen, Denmark. Queen Magrethe ll lives here in winter and autumn. It consists of four identical classical palace façades with rococo interiors arou ...
and
Marble Church at its centre and together they create an axis that was extended with the creation of the new
Copenhagen Opera House
The Copenhagen Opera House (in Danish usually called Operaen, literally ''The opera'') is the national opera house of Denmark, and among the most modern opera houses in the world. It is also one of the most expensive opera houses ever built at a ...
in 2005 on the other side of the
harbour basin. The district is characterized by straight broad streets in a straight-angled street layout. The streets are lined by
bourgeois houses, mansions and palaces. Another important building in the district is the royal
Frederiks Hospital
The royal Frederiks Hospital was Denmark's first hospital in the present-day meaning of the word. It was founded by king Frederik V and financed by the earnings from the Norwegian Postal Service.
The buildings, situated in Bredgade in Copenh ...
was
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 = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
's first
hospital in the present-day meaning of the word. It now houses the
Danish Museum of Art & Design.
21st century: modernist architecture and urban development
![Ørestad, Copenhagen skyline](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/%C3%98restad%2C_Copenhagen_skyline.jpg)
Recent years have seen a boom in modern architecture in Copenhagen
both for
Danish architecture
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
and for works by international architects. For a few hundred years, virtually no foreign architects had worked in Copenhagen, but since the turn of the millennium the city and its immediate surroundings have seen buildings and projects designed by top international architects. At the same time, a number of Danish architects have achieved success in Copenhagen and abroad.
Copenhagen's urban development in the first half of the 20th century was heavily influenced by industrialisation. After World War II,
Copenhagen Municipality
Copenhagen Municipality ( da, Københavns Kommune), also known in English as the Municipality of Copenhagen, located in the Capital Region of Denmark, is the largest of the four municipalities that constitute the City of Copenhagen (), the othe ...
adopted
Fordism
Fordism is a manufacturing technology that serves as the basis of modern economic and social systems in industrialized, standardized mass production and mass consumption. The concept is named after Henry Ford. It is used in social, economic, and ...
and repurposed its medieval centre to facilitate private automobile infrastructure in response to innovations in transport, trade and communication.
Copenhagen’s spatial planning in this time frame was characterised by the separation of land uses: an approach which requires residents to travel by car to access facilities of different uses. This planning scheme largely aligned with the
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
framework endorsed by
Le Corbusier in such conceptual projects as the controversial Plan Voisin for Paris.
Ebenezer Howard
Sir Ebenezer Howard (29 January 1850 – 1 May 1928) was an English urban planner and founder of the garden city movement, known for his publication ''To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform'' (1898), the description of a utopian city in whic ...
’s conceptualisation of the
Garden City also perforated Copenhagen’s masterplan prior to the 1960s. In 1949, Copenhagen Municipality implemented the
Finger Plan: a policy stating that the city should develop urban clusters along its five outreaching rapid public transport arteries.
This early example of transit orientated development resonates with Howard’s ideal of developing periphery communities linked with productive urban centres. Due to the significant replanning that commenced in 1962, Copenhagen was fortunate to benefit from the intensification of its rapid transit corridors without suffering from the undesirable urban forms associated with British iterations of the Garden City.
In 1962, Danish architect
Jan Gehl shifted the trajectory of Copenhagen’s development by pedestrianising key parts of its city centre with the goal of enhancing the on-street conditions for humans. Rigorous field studies informed Gehl’s conclusion that city spaces perform best when they encourage the use of public spaces.
Gehl observed that the quality of life between buildings is diminished when substandard architecture, poor safety and overwhelming car infrastructure limit human engagement in public places.
Gehl therefore commenced the replanning of Copenhagen in 1962 by pedestrianising
Strøget
Strøget () is a pedestrian, car free shopping area in Copenhagen, Denmark. This popular tourist attraction in the centre of town is one of the longest pedestrian shopping streets in Europe at 1.1 km. Located at the centre of the old city o ...
: the city’s main interior transit artery.
![Amagertorv aerial](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Amagertorv_aerial.jpg)
Strøget is today the defining thread of Copenhagen’s urban fabric. In the first year of replanning the number of pedestrians accessing Strøget increased by 35% and the number of baby carriages observed in the street increased by 400%. In the forty years since the project’s commencement Gehl has overseen the conversion of 100 000 square metres of private vehicle space into pedestrian space with fine stone street surfacing, improved ambient street lighting and architecturally designed public furniture.
Beyond the streetscape, the urban form is now defined by low rise, mixed use developments that thrive upon the increased pedestrian access.
Gehl’s work in redefining Copenhagen’s urban form is today praised as true innovation, however the redevelopment was informed by several historical planning approaches. Most notably, Gehl drew significant inspiration from the urban forms that featured prominently in Southern European cities prior to the 16th century. These urban environments were woven with intricate street systems where irregular layouts, tights corners and narrow laneways produced engaging pedestrian experiences. Gehl’s desire to implement aesthetically engaging streetscapes in Copenhagen also resonated with the work of Pullman and Lever in Port Sunlight.
Built as a worker’s town, Port Sunlight represented a landmark shift towards an urban planning approach that employed landscape architecture to deliver urban environments of high aesthetic value. Pullman and Lever, and indeed Gehl, intended to enhance public life through design: a key tenant of Jane Jacobs’ seminal urban planning discourse. Jacobs described an ideal human-scale city as having “an intricate and close-grained diversity of uses that give each other constant mutual support, both economically and socially”. The pedestrianisation of Stroget can therefore be understood as an attempt to implement the planning approaches of Jacobs, Pullman and Lever in an engaging urban environment possessing the walkability of a medieval Southern European city.
Buildings in Copenhagen have won
RIBA European Awards four years in a row ("Sampension" in 2005, "Kilen" in 2006, "Tietgenkollegiet" in 2007 and the
Royal Playhouse in 2008.) The last three are all by
Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects. At the 2008
World Architecture Festival
The World Architecture Festival (WAF) is an annual festival and awards ceremony, one of the most prestigious events dedicated to the architecture and development industry. The first four events were held in Barcelona, from 2008 to 2011, at which p ...
in Barcelona,
Bjarke Ingels Group won an award for the World's Best Residential Building 2008 for a house in Ørestad. In 2008 British design magazine ''
Monocle
A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the visual perception in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string or wire. The other ...
'' named Copenhagen the ''World's best design city 2008''. In 2017 CNN listed
The Silo, designed by Danish architect Dan Stubbergaard and his team at Cobe, as one of the most anticipated buildings completing in 2018
See also
*
Architecture of Denmark
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
References
{{reflist, 2
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...