Trapholt Museum

Thursday through Saturday of Core Course Week, we traveled around western Denmark. We started at the Trapholt Museum. The main element of this museum design is a long spine-like wall that all of the exhibitions branch off. The wall starts in the parking lot.

They had an exhibit about Arne Jacobsen and his furniture design which was really cool to see. Jacobsen is one of the most famous Danish designers and had a huge influence on Danish style.

They also had a summer house that Jacobsen designed and it was furnished with his designs, including his famous “egg chair.”

The main hallway of the museum has a beautiful arched roof. The wall continues from the parking lot, along the hallway, and ends with a cafe.

They also had an exhibit about Kay Bojesen and his toy designs. These toy monkeys are one of the most famous Danish toys and they can be found in any Danish household.

There was a tiny little exhibit about pottery that potters had made blindfolded and I thought it was so cool!

 

If walls could dream… they’d dream of the egg chair.

Arne Jacobsen and Tietgenkollegiet Tours

To round out our studio tours for core course week, we visited some projects by Arne Jacobsen and then got a tour of Tietgenkollegiet, one of the most popular student housing buildings in Copenhagen, for obvious reasons. We walked along the coast from Arne Jacobsen’s gas station to his beach houses. He designed everything, down to the font used for address numbers.

 

We also got a tour of the Tietgenkollegiet from a student who lives there. The building was designed by Lundgaard & Tranberg. It is a circular building, with the private rooms facing outwards and the communal spaces facing inwards so that residents can see friends across the courtyard, having dinner or hanging out, and go join them. There are also communal spaces on the ground floor. Things that are usually shoved in dim basements, such as mail, bike parking, and laundry, are given bright, colorful rooms on the ground floor.

 

Buildings are great, but I have to admit the highlight of this tour was the icecream! I got mint chocolate chip and it had huge chips of dark chocolate in it. Delicious!

 

If walls could dream… they’d dream of Arne Jacobsen.

Louisiana Museum

On Tuesday, my studio and I took a trip to the Louisiana Museum by Vilhelm Wohlert and Jørgen Bo. It was so beautiful! I love how it connected with the nature and had so many windows and natural elements. The museum also has a newer wing but it was closed while we were there to set up a new exhibit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would recommend anyone visiting Copenhagen for more than a couple days, visit the Louisiana Museum. They have a really nice cafe too with beautiful views of the coast.

If walls could dream… they’d dream of visiting the Louisiana Museum.

Bagsværd Church

Bagsværd Church was designed by Jørn Utzon. He is a Danish architect famous for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia. I visited the Bagsværd Church with my studio last Monday and it was incredible to finally see it in real life.

It was a rainy morning and I entered the church from the side door, so I was greeted by a sheltered yet airy hallway. It was so nice to be out of the rain but still in the natural light. You can notice from this photo the modularity of the building. The wall panels and structural columns all fit together easily and even the benches fit in the module. The doors aren’t holes in the walls but rather other panels attached to the wall panels.

After walking through this beautiful hallway, I made my way into the main space. This has the famous Bagsværd ceiling. Utzon was inspired by clouds at the beach to make these forms but they work very well to softly reflect light into the space. It was so interesting seeing such a modular and rectangular building with such an organically shaped roof but it totally worked. Utzon uses materials very honestly and doesn’t hide how things are made. The concrete ceiling shows its wooden formwork and the concrete columns are left unpainted.

 The lighting quality of the ceiling was just incredible. Even on a slightly overcast day like this, it was well lit inside. On short winter days when services are before sunrise, they have to rely on artificial light but aside from that it works very well.

If walls could dream… they’d dream of the ceiling in Bagsværd church.

Danish Architecture Studio

One of my favorite things about DIS Copenhagen so far is the architecture studio. The campus is urban, with different buildings sprinkled throughout the city. This is so different than Cal Poly’s campus but I like it. Walking between classes you pass tourists and businesspeople. You can stop at a bakery and grab a cup of tea or a pastry. My architecture studio is on the fifth floor, but the stairs are so worth it for the cozy room, great light and view!

There are three architecture studios (each with only nine students! So you get a lot of personal feedback from your professor) and we are all in different sections of this one big room. My studio is in the front with a lot of great light.

This is the view FROM MY DESK!

There’s also a kitchen, a presentation room, and a ventilated spray paint booth room. I’m so excited to get to work here for the next year!

 

If walls could dream… they’d dream of designing buildings in a beautiful studio space!

Hej, Copenhagen!

After traveling around Southern France, I finally made it to Copenhagen, my new city for the year! It was so exciting to say hello, or “hej” in Danish, to my new home.

There are so many cute canal streets, like this one called Nyhavn. The more I explore Copenhagen, the more cute and historic neighborhoods I find where you can really see the merchant history of the city. Nyhavn is more of a touristy area now but it has the cutest subdued yet colorful buildings.

There are also a lot of modern buildings, like the BLOX building by OMA which is the new home of the Dansk Arkitektur Center (Danish Architecture Center, see Danish isn’t that hard!)

In addition to buildings, Copenhagen has a lot of really beautiful parks and green spaces. Because of the rain, it is so lush and beautiful. It reminds me a bit of Seattle in that way. Also, there are so many people out walking their dogs!

And it wouldn’t be Copenhagen without a street full of bikes! Watch out when crossing the street because bikers rule the road here. If biking isn’t for you, then don’t worry because the public transportation system is really great and it’s easy to get around by bus, metro, or train. And Copenhagen is also very walkable (when it isn’t raining!)

 

If walls could dream… they’d dream of exploring Copenhagen by bike.