One of Copenhagen’s main ring roads goes right
through the site and a new pedestrian bridge is
planned next to it, opening in autumn. This meant
that the design had to negotiate some heavy circulation
and, together with the slew of diferent functions
to be included, made for an extremely challenging
and complex brief. But van Loon was not fazed. ‘I like
complexity. Not as a main goal, but I like complex
interactions between programme parts, or certain
elements in a design. It’s like solving a puzzle, but also
creating new relationships,’ she says.
Her solution involved locating the DAC at the
heart of the design and arranging all the diferent
functions around it, creating a kind of solar system
of mini-worlds that allows the traic to run
undisturbed beneath. Van Loon draws an apt parallel
between the centre’s operations and its placement
within the building: ‘From the core you can see all the
functions the centre deals with daily, everything thatmatters in a city – bicycles, cars, people. It’s like a
mini-city in a box.’
This overarching concept is enriched by meticulous
design details at every scale, such as the children’s
playground that was incorporated to replace an existing
one on site (a irst for OMA, and one of the trickiest
parts of the project, says van Loon, only half-joking);
and a ‘golden room’, a high-security, brass-lined
exhibition hall for sensitive art pieces. The building
is a composition of diferent ‘boxes’, stacked on top
of each other, but each with its own identity, explains
the architect.
It all seems very rational, but van Loon begs to
difer. ‘We are good at branding our work as being
extremely rational, but in reality it is, of course, quite
emotional. For the Casa da Música, for example,
I made so many emotional decisions. I like that
combination of emotional and rational decisions.
You can’t always explain everything.’
That may be so, but the result is sure to become
a major destination for Copenhagen. With its public
spaces, the DAC’s programme, and BLOXHUB – its
own urban innovation hub – exciting times await this
seafront scheme come May, when the oicial opening
takes place; not least thanks to the spirit of its
enterprising architect, the mastermind behind its
intricately balanced ecosystem. ∂
oma.euDANISH ARCHITECTURE CENTRE AT BLOX
Spanning 27,000 sq m across six floors above and five
below ground, BLOX is a shimmering stack of glass boxes
on Copenhagen’s harbourfront, near Langebro bridge.
Built and funded by the philanthropic association
Realdania and designed by OMA, the project includes
new public spaces, offices, a harbour promenade, a café
and restaurant, a fitness centre, apartments, a 350-space
underground car park, and the city’s coolest playground;
at the heart of all this sits the Danish Architecture
Centre (DAC) and BLOXHUB, a research hub for urban
innovation. Flexible exhibition spaces and an auditorium
help make the building the ultimate meeting place for
architecture, design and urban culture. The DAC opens
at BLOX on 6 May with the exhibition ’Welcome Home’,
exploring Danish houses of the past, present and future.
Bryghuspladsen 10, Copenhagen, blox.dk108 ∑
Architecture
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT, THE
DOUBLE-HEIGHT ATRIUM AT
THE HEART OF THE BUILDING,
WHICH WILL SERVE AS THE
MAIN DAC EXHIBITION SPACE;
THE CHILDREN’S PLAYGROUND;
AND A BRASS-LINED ROOM,
ITS GOLDEN HUE A NOD
TO THE PRECIOUS EXHIBITS
IT WILL BE USED TO DISPLAY