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, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

, 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, Honorary Fellowship of the American Institute of Architects, Hon. FAIA (; 11 February 1902 – 24 March 1971) was a Danish architect and furniture designer. He is remembered for his contribution to functionalism (architec ...

and

Erik Møller 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 built ...

. 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 ...

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 consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

from

Porsgrunn is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Porsgrunn (town), city ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

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

verdigris Verdigris () is a common name for any of a variety of somewhat toxic copper salt (chemistry), salts of acetic acid, which range in colour from green to a blue-green, bluish-green depending on their chemical composition.H. Kühn, Verdigris and Cop ...

. 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 and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

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 metalloid ...

is used for metal architectural details. The price for the building was 9.5 mio. DKK, including the cost of the land area and inventory which in itself comprised 1.5 mio. DKK. 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 () consists of 108 works of cultural excellence in eight categories: architecture, visual arts, design, design and crafts, film, literature, music, performing arts, and children's culture. An initiative of Brian Mikkelsen i ...

under architecture. The city hall features as the main location of the short film Nada - Act II by Slovenian artist

Jasmina Cibic Jasmina Cibic (born 1979) is a Slovenian performance, installation and film artist who lives and works in London. Her work often explores the construction of national cultures, their underlying ideologies, political goals and uses, as well as the ...

. 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 () 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 edifice of the diocese of ...

. 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 structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

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, 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 ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

() 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 municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

Danish Culture Canon Functionalist architecture in Aarhus 1941 establishments in Denmark 1940s architecture in Denmark