19/08/2025
Ferragosto week spent in Copenhagen. A very fascinating city, in some ways split in two: on one side the historic center, where the urban fabric is made up of buildings from the past; on the other, the harbor district where the Danish capital becomes contemporary. I was generally expecting an evolution of modernism, but in reality Danish architecture and design are characterized by a certain eclecticism which, I must admit, doesn’t really excite me. In this sense, it’s a pity we didn’t manage to see Arne Jacobsen’s SAS Hotel…
View of a canal in the Københavns Havn, highlighting the dualism between the old commercial docks and the new residential architecture.
The Cirkelbroen Bridge, designed by Olafur Eliasson, an excellent example of contemporary art lending itself to architecture.
The Tivoli Hotel, designed by Kim Utzon, son of the architect of the Sydney Opera House.
An example of the Danish eclecticism mentioned above: one of the two Kaktus Towers designed by BIG.
By the same famous architect, the equally renowned CopenHill, perhaps the best example of a fusion between the functionalism of the past and the contemporary drive of Danish architecture.
Modernist buildings, late 1960s.
Another well-known studio: Cobe Architects, who designed the masterplan for Paper Island.
The spectacular National Library, an iconic building with a fitting name: the Black Diamond, designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects.
The extremely refined Royal Danish Playhouse, a measured project by Lundgaard & Tranberg Arkitekter.
The Copenhagen Opera House, one of the most modern theaters in the world and, curiously, also the most expensive. A project by Henning Larsen.
