![Århus Godsbanegård (hovedbygning)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/%C3%85rhus_Godsbaneg%C3%A5rd_%28hovedbygning%29.jpg)
Godsbanen is a
cultural centre
A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run.
Asia
* Cen ...
in central
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
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
since 2012. The site and most of the buildings are a former
goods station
A goods station (also known as a goods yard or goods depot) or freight station is, in the widest sense, a railway station where, either exclusively or predominantly, goods (or freight), such as merchandise, parcels, and manufactured items, are lo ...
, known as "''Aarhus Godsbanegård''" (Aarhus Goods Station), which was in use from 1923 to 2000. It is located at the end of a broad sidetrack to the central railway yard of Aarhus. In December 2010,
Realdania
Realdania is a private association in Denmark which supports projects in architecture and planning. It was established in 2000 following the sale of Realkredit Danmark to Danske Bank, when a fund of approximately 20 billion kroner (EUR 2.7 billio ...
announced that the area would be gradually transformed into a modern city district, through a collaborative project with
Aarhus Municipality
Aarhus Municipality ( da, Aarhus Kommune), known as Århus Municipality ( da, Århus Kommune) until 2011, is a municipality in Central Denmark Region, on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark.
The municipality covers an area ...
. Apart from the new cultural centre of Godsbanen, there are plans to build several buildings and institutions along the former railway yard, including a new
school of architecture
This is a list of architecture schools at colleges and universities around the world.
An architecture school (also known as a school of architecture or college of architecture), is an institution specializing in architectural education.
Africa
...
.
History
![Godsbanegaard aarhus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Godsbanegaard_aarhus.jpg)
Originally, the goods station was situated at
Aarhus Central Station
Aarhus Central Station ( da, Aarhus Hovedbanegård, abbreviated Aarhus H) is the main railway station serving the city of Aarhus, Denmark. Serving as the main connecting hub for rail traffic between Aarhus and the rest of Denmark, the station is ...
, on the site now occupied by the
Aarhus Bus Station.
In the 1890s, it was proposed to move the goods yard to Mølleengen. The plans for the move became part of the city planning in 1896 and 1898, but a full 27 years went by before they were executed. As the project was very costly, it led to extended discussions in both the city council and the
national parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
, the latter being reluctant to provide funding for the project.
Only after a law was passed in 1917, covering relocation of the shunting yard and the goods station to Mølleengen near the
Aarhus River
Aarhus River ( da, Århus Å) is a long river or stream, in eastern Jutland, Denmark.
The river flows through the large river valley of Aarhus Ådal. The valley itself, stretches from Silkeborg to the coastal city of Aarhus, but the Aarhus River ...
, were the plans put into practice. In 1919, a new city plan was adopted and in 1920 work on the new goods station, known as "''Aarhus Godsbanegård''" (Aarhus Goods Station), in Skovgaardsgade was able to start. Owing to difficult soil conditions, extensive piling work had to be carried out, including 1,150,000 m3 of landfill which was moved by hand. In addition, a portion of the river was moved further north, and 3,000 fir trunks were pounded in to a depth of 20 meters as foundations for the facility's new buildings. The engineer responsible for the foundation work was track manager Thorvald Engqvist.
The goods station's main building was designed in a Neo-Baroque style by architect
Heinrich Wenck
Heinrich (Henry) Emil Charles Wenck (10 March 1851 – 3 February 1936) was a Danish architect, known for the numerous railway stations he designed in his capacity of chief architect for the Danish State Railways from 1894 to 1921. During the yea ...
and built in 1920-22 after a design phase that had begun in 1918. It was one of Wenck's last works as
DSB DSB may refer to:
Science, technology and devices
* DsbA, a bacterial member of the Dsb (disulfide bond) family of enzymes
* Double strand break, a break in both DNA strands, part of DNA repair
* in telecommunications, double-sideband transmission ...
's chief architect. The two-storey building is 15 bays long and is crowned by a hipped roof with a
lantern
A lantern is an often portable source of lighting, typically featuring a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle or a wick in oil, and often a battery-powered light in modern timesto make it easier to carry and h ...
and four
ridge turrets
A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...
together with a copper-clad spire topped by a Baroque onion dome. The facade is divided into
lesene
A lesene, also called a pilaster strip, is an architectural term for a narrow, low-relief vertical pillar on a wall. It resembles a pilaster, but does not have a base or capital. It is typical in Lombardic and Rijnlandish architectural building s ...
s. It is built of red brick and roofed with red tiles. The ventilation hoods and the flashing around the dormers are also in copper.
Perpendicular to the main building are two warehouses, originally on either side of a yard where the tracks came to a blind end. This was where the loading and unloading of the incoming and outgoing freight trains took place. In 1972 and 1984, the yard between the warehouses was transformed into a building connecting the warehouses. In 1925, the shunting yard was inaugurated together with the goods station.
Most buildings in the area have high preservation status in the Aarhus municipal atlas.
Cultural centre
![Godsbanen (indgang) 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Godsbanen_%28indgang%29_01.jpg)
Beginning in 2009, the former goods station was renovated, the two warehouses was rebuilt and refurnished, and a new building was constructed in between. The new and old buildings now house the cultural centre of Godsbanen, opening on 30 March 2012, and organize a host of cultural arrangements and facilitates everyday cultural engagement for the citizens of Aarhus and surrounding suburbs. This includes theatre, dancing, music, film, artwork, printing, workshops, festivals and business networking. Since the opening of the centre, there has been a restaurant and café, at the center of the new building, but it has changed owners and concept several times. The former restaurant of Thorvalds (named after the original goods station's first manager Thorvald Engqvist) took over from Aarhus Folkekøkken (Aarhus Civic Kitchen) and is now replaced by Spiselauget. With slightly varying concepts, the restaurants has always focussed on
sustainability
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...
and
organic
Organic may refer to:
* Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity
* Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ
Chemistry
* Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...
, seasonal and local produce.
File:Godsbanen 02.jpg, Godsbanen, the new building and main entrances
File:Grey in grey.JPG, Tilted concrete roof
File:Godsbanen (foyer).jpg, Lobby area
File:Godsbanen 5.jpg, Restaurant and café area
File:Radar (stage).jpg, Radar, a small music venue
File:Godsbanen 6.jpg, From the walls of Godsbanen. The Danish text loosely describes the concept of the cultural centre.
Surroundings
![Institut for (X) 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Institut_for_%28X%29_1.jpg)
The decommissioned railway lines leading up to the former freight station, has been unused for many years, but along with the construction of the Godsbanen cultural centre, independent cultural actors were allowed by the municipality to move in. This led to the do-it-yourself village of Institut for (X), a
recycling station
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The Energy recycling, recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability t ...
, and other time limited cultural and social projects sprouting in the area since 2009. The deal is that while no rent is paid, settlements and activities should give way for future construction projects in the area. Along with the new Godsbanen cultural centre, this whole area was unofficially dubbed Aarhus K ("K" for ''Kultur'' or Culture in Danish) as a kind of new cultural district for the city.
Institut for (X) is a self-governed cultural commune for small independent businesses and cultural projects. Here cafés, nightclubs, workshops, repair shops, skateboarding, urban farming, alternative construction and living quarters have emerged as a creative amalgam. Since 2019, when new construction in the area took of, much of Institut for (X) has been demolished, but the commune and organisation was so popular that plans for a more permanent future in the area is scheduled.
File:Aarhus K.jpg, Aarhus K
File:Institut for (X) 07.jpg, Institut for (X) village scene (2018)
File:Institut for (X) 06.jpg
File:Institut for (X) 13.jpg
File:Institut for (X) 14.jpg
File:Inversus Festival 06.jpg, Parties and food projects
File:Inversus Festival.jpg, Concerts
Future projects
![Nybyggerier (Godsbanearealerne 2019)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Nybyggerier_%28Godsbanearealerne_2019%29.jpg)
New building projects at Godsbanen includes several major education institutions, commercial functions and private, youth and social housing.
Aarhus School of Architecture
The Aarhus School of Architecture (Arkitektskolen Aarhus) was founded in 1965 in Aarhus, Denmark. Along with the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in Copenhagen, it is responsible for the education of architects in Denmar ...
's new building is the first time ever a school of architecture is going to be built in Denmark.
The Danish Building & Property Agency. The international competition was launched by The Danish Building & Property Agency and Aarhus School of Architecture with the assistance of the Danish Architects’ Association and with funding from Realdania.
Æggepakkeriet (The Egg Packery), is a new residencial highrise project with a mix of small creative shops and business premises at ground level. The project is a repurposing of a former
egg packery
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...
in combination with three new buildings, all designed by Sleth Architects.
Aarhus Produktionsskole (Aarhus Production School) was scheduled to start construction of a 3,000m
2 new production school on 1 January 2017. Due to a national restructuring of all Danish productions schools into Forberedende Grunduddannelse (FGU), the construction was postponed. Pluskontoret Arkitekter is responsible for building advisory for Aarhus Production School.
Godsbanekollegietis a youth housing project b
Kollegiekontoretin cooperation wit
Arbejdernes Andelsboligforening(AAB). For the part of Kollegiekontoret the project consists of an international student youth housing with 120-150 inhabitants. A competition has been completed for the project in 2016 with the support of the Ministry of Housing. Aarhus City Council handles the local plan for the project in autumn 2018 and construction is planned in the period 2019–21.
References
Sources
* Søren Bitsch Christensen (ed.):
Århus Godsbanegård - historie og kulturarvsanbefalinger'. January 2009, Dansk Center for Byhistorie 2009.
External links
*
Institute for (X)official website
{{coord, 56, 09, 15, N, 10, 11, 41, E, region:DK_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dawiki, display=title
Buildings and structures in Aarhus
Cultural centers in Denmark
Theatres in Aarhus
Restaurants in Aarhus
Coffeehouses and cafés in Aarhus
Commercial buildings completed in 1922
Disused railway stations in Denmark
1922 establishments in Denmark
Railway stations opened in 1922
Heinrich Wenck buildings
Railway stations in Denmark opened in the 20th century