Kongens Nytorv marked

Fridays and Saturdays, Kongens Nytorv -the round shaped square at the end of Nyhavn, Store Kongensgade, Bredgade, Gothersgade and the pedestrian shopping street- hosts a flee marked. From Royal Copenhagen porcelain to funny hats and home-made knitting, you'll find everything.

But what first caught my attention was the intergalactic-space-sound coming from an installation. Something between art happening and urban furniture is to be experienced. Kgs.Nytorv is often the place where art appears in an appealing -almost propanganda- way.

- The Cool Globes were exposed there during the Copenhagen Summit for Environment in December 2009
- Sustainable design solutions were shown -in collaboration with an exhibition at the Danish Center for Design, DDC, if I am correct
- Exhibitions describing the water issues in the world were seen there.

This time it is an urban lounge space with huge white cushions to cheel out on. Right next to that "The Wal" is a virtual interactive museum-wall describing the history and characteristics of Copenhagen. It seems those special installations are there to promote the city and the urban lifestyle while the metro works are pulling trees out from the original tree circle of the square and making the crossing over of the Kgs.Nytorv something of a military exercice for pedestrians.

Earlier on the week, going down to catch your metro, you would also have popped into a sound and image installation "Urban Forest". Heavy atmosphere, music and images suggesting to pause, to slow down in your rushy day planning and look around: we are hundreds, thousands of people passing here, running around in the city's web. Well, of course, you would say. But nonetheless, it is a stunning feeling you get when you take time to actually think about it.

Amusement or distraction from the works? Publicity that should inject patience into the citizens and turists hoping to enjoy the recently restaured square? The experience is however fun.

For more information on Kongens Nytorv, see www.cphx.dk/?#/28842/
For more information on "The Wall", see www.vaeggen.dk
For more information on the metro works, see post from the 5th June or visit www.m.dk/Metronyt.aspx

Summer in Europe, summer in Denmark

Well, I have been on the move during the last month: discovering the nature's own spatial rules or Vauban's strategies in the building of forts on Ile de Ré, in France, discovering the religious and enlighted visions for an ideal city in Richelieu, in France, wondering around in Belgium and getting enthusiastic about the natural, medieval and contemporary dialogue in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Pictures coming up here...

Ile de Ré | France


Richelieu | France

1-view of the cardinal's square from inside the old halle - 2-view of the church on cardinal's square-3- huge aristocratic residences with big backyards are to be seen along the principal street, the principal axis joining the religious pole and the royal pole- 4-the sacred city is built on an ideal of symetry and hierachized perfection (mid 17th century, end of Louis XIII's reign), only three doors allow entrance to the centre, the south door here and examples of what you could see through the private doors to the backyards - 5-the glorious planted driveway facing the statue of Cardinal Richelieu


Edinburgh | Scotland

1-view from Arthur's seat over Holyrood, the Scottish Parliament (Miralles) and part of the New Town (17th century)- 2-landscape and benches melting together in the gardens behind the new Scottish Parliament, the green axis from Arthur's seat fromwhich the Parliament devellops as leaves on branches- 3- the old Grassmarket, 2nd part after the wall extension- 4-bike parking furniture close to the Parliament gardens- 5- ceiling in a pub in the Old Town (Medieval)




Meanwhile in Copenhagen, I have spotted some interesting summer activities:

- from 16th July-14th August: Urbant aktivitets bureau is organising activities and events around in the capital, allowing you to discover it with new eyes. Sounds really great!
Where and when? Rumkammerats galleri, Nansensgade 35, from Tuesdays to Saterdays
Read more on cphx.dk/#/432906/ or rumkammerat.dk/uab

- Still free tours in Copenhagen with CphX and DAC: take the boat, your bike or just wear your walking shoes...they are all very interesting and informs you on what is happening now in Copenhagen in terms of city development and architecture.
Read more on cphx.dk

Rødt og grønt - Red and green

Skuespilhuset - Det Kongelig Teater - and Kvæstbroen

Location: København centrum, ved havnefronten
Tegnet af Lundgaard & Tranberg
International arkitektkonkurrence udskrevet af Kulturministeriet i 2001


One of my favourite occupation in Copenhagen, why? Go there, and you'll know...Interesting, interrogating and exciting plays with quality actors in spaces and rooms challenging the eyes and satisfying the senses.


This time the play, Rødt og grønt, questions the public on the social work in developping countries: how do the "helping immigrants" live, how do they act, how do they consider themselves and the people around them, what is their purpose? Compassion or ego-building? What kind of fake world in between home and abroad have they created in order to survive and get the impression of doing something meaningful in this world? It is more a critical parody on a trend existing some decennies ago but still what do we actually know about those people we send to attend to others? What gives us the impression we need to help and interfere, what gives us the right, and especially who? How far can we go before it is affecting someone else's vital rights?

From laughter to some kind of unpleasant feeling of blasphemy, this piece was greatly produced, everything laying in subtilities and details.


The friendly evening temperature allowed to enjoy the leasure installations on Kvæstbroen, in front of the theater.


See also post from the 27th April 2010

Opera ex machina

Operaen - Open doors at the new opera house
Location: Holmen, along the main canal, opposite Amalienborg and Amalienhave
Project by Henning Larsen
Private initiation of A.P. Møller - Mærsk - as gift for the city
Inaugurated in 2005

A place full of contrasts... Especially today with the grey Danish weather!
Outside, the old industrial harbour stillbearing the marks of its metallic past. Inside, the celebration of luxury and refinement. The materials - the marble on the floors, the polished maple pannels on the walls of the great hall, the glass reflecting the water and allowing the view of the panorama on the waterfront, the glass used by Olafur Eliasson for the three great chandeliers - the space and the light create a place where time stops. This suits very well the opera world if you listen to the definition that the operachef Kasper Holten gave at his welcome speech today: "a place where time is flexible, where you can stop and reflect on the great moments and feelings of our human lives that are too complexe or terrible to describe with words...a place where the music and the voices celebrate those moments".

The guided tour took us down to the rehearsal hall, behind the scene, up to the rehearsal artist loges and down again to the foyer. Great technics were described that assure the right acoustic, the feeling of daylight even at -5th floor, the efficient change of coulisses (different masterpieces being produced and performed for a same period) etc. It is a great piece of architecture, no doubt about that.

But I cannot forget the very close resemblance to the music hall of Luzern in Switzerland, done by Jean Nouvel. When you compare, the swiss original one is more convincing, especially in the work done on the great music hall. Much more true to the concept in a way. I also regret that the Danish opera house has such a beautiful front part - facade and foyer space - leaving the administrative and backstages in a very cartesian plan of rooms linked by corridors. When you get to the upper part and deck, the plan opens more outwards again and the rooms breath again. But the small offices and their facade are quite basic. Maybe this unforgiving feeling also comes after the visit of the facing brother : the theatre house. Yes, you find corridors and stairways but somehow they are a part of your journey in the building, they are made interesting by small but decisive details.

But here is a thing I particularly appreciated... the continuity between the floor inside and the stone deck outside.
You ought to know that the opera house has been the seat of quite some polemics also, among which the most strong ones were between the architect and the client!

To talk about the musical experience I can report two very nice concerts of thirty minugtes each: a brass kvintet from the Royal Chapel played some traditionnal pieces of the repertoire - Vagn Holmboe, Victor Ewald, Malcolm Arnold - and a smaller delegation from the Royal Opera choir sang Brahms' Liebeslieder Walzer. I am not very used to brass repertoire though the instruments fascinates me: the colour and the son cuivré are delightful, I think. I really enjoyed the whole concert and all the pieces they played today. It was the second time I heard playing some Ewald: I start to get to know more this Russian engineer and composer and I appreciate his work more and more. The last piece was of Malcolm Arnold I believe: very light and joyful, and quite jazzy...

And then the Liebeslieder, well, what else to say that is as beautiful as ever. One of the most known piece of Brahms probably: its harmonious atmosphere must be the reason! The bass singer gave us a funny little anecdote. It is written on the scores that it is a piece for piano with vocal accompaniment "if desired", which means that the choir part that we all know, recognize and hum along, is actually accessory!

Rum og bevægelse 2

Statens Museum for Kunst
Location: København centrum, Georg Brandes Plads, ved Kongens have (Nørreport station)
Tegnet af Vilhelm Dahlerup og C.F. Møller
Opført efter Christiansborg branden i 1884, udvidet i 1998 efter en arkitektkonkurrence

I anledning til Dansens dage var jeg på SMK for at se en "dans-musik-happening" forstilling :

Superhands på Dansens dage

Jeg forstår ikke altid så meget alt det bag dans og koreografi men synes det er en fascinerende verden for de rumelig aspekter og den kropselig og sanselig opmærksomhed det kræver. Det kan siges at det var en spændende erfaring til som kunne opleves på scenen i SMK.
Stedet egner sig også til særlige rumelig oplevelser! Et af mine favoriter i Kbh: det er et af de få steder hvor man kan stå helt fysisk i overgangen mellem en historisk bygning og sin moderne udvidelse. Man står i lyset, i et rum mellem udendørs og indendørs, et teater til parken hvor scenen - som særlig kulturel mødepunkt - byder på udsigt og indsigt.

SMK har en fantastisk samling af kunst og nogle rigtig interessante udstillinger men erfare det transitions rum - skulpturgaden - har altid haft en vis effekt på mig, allerede ved mit første besøg som barn - naiv og uvidende mht det uddannet arkitekt blik. En fornemmelse at stå hvor det sker. Det er nemlig ikke en overflade som er i kontakt med den gamle bygning, det er et rum: det er en stor forskel!
Selv udvidelsen er selvføldig smuk med vinduer og rammer til både omgivelserne, udstillingsrummene, caféen, den gamle facade. Og overfladen og detajlerne - ja, fordi et rum har trods alt en side som er i kontakt med det gamle - er vel udarbejdet.

Men kom selv og erfare skulpturgaden og scenen, rummene og deres indhold.

http://www.smk.dk/besoeg-museet/aktiviteter/paa-scenen/

Rum og bevægelse

Dans mellem bøgerne...
Location: Østerbro bibliotek

Jeg skul aflevere noget materiale på biblioteket. Når jeg trådte ind var det forvandlet til dansescene. Unge fra Sceneindgangen lagte bevægelse på Paul Austers Collected Poems. Det var en smuk rumelig og litterær overraskelse.Det er ikke første forfatter som lægger ord på sin rumelig erfaringer. Den franske Georges Perec skrev selv Espèces d'espaces. Alessandro Baricco betragter byens liv og præg i City.

Det er altid en god reference og inspirationskilde at læse om disse tanke gjort af mennesker som har et nyt og friskt syn på det rumelig, essencen til arkitekturen.

Virker væggen og loftet ikke tættere på deres krop end jeg ser?

Dansens dage 29. April-1. Maj

www.dansensdage.dk

Den Gamle Dame Besøger byen...eller den unge arkitekt besøger skuespilhuset for 3. gang

- ja, man bliver lidt afhængig af gode rum og kultur på højeste klasse :-)

Skuespilhuset - Det Kongelig Teater
Location: København centrum, ved havnefronten
Tegnet af Lundgaard & TranbergInternational arkitektkonkurrence udskrevet af Kulturministeriet i 2001
Indviet i 2008 med Hamlet

Dem som bor i staden kender det og er stolte af det, den ligger på enhver turistes rute, kanal rundfarten sejler forbi og skuger ind til kunstner logerne i håb om en sneak preview til aftens medvirkende, unge arkitekter tilbeder bygningen og dens arkitektonisk skaber.

Close to perfection!
For min vedkommende, er det så tæt man kommer på ren arkitektonisk kunst. Detaljering er nøje udført og trofast til konceptet, materialernes forudsætninger, den omgivende typologi og kulturarv, udsigten og relationen til vandet og Holmen. Program- og funktion-mæssigt er udformningen også ren logisk og klar. Det ser også ud til at brugerne er både fornøjet med og stolte af deres arbejdsplads. Det var ihvertfald mit indtryk under den meget enthusiaste rundvisning jeg deltog i februar måned.

Huset er en glæde for den som kan lide kontraster og mærke de mange fine nuancer og tanker arkitekten har lagt i bygningen. Lysene i foyer'en er som sterner i natten: smukt men disse små optik tråde undergår blindelsen når man træder ud af den mørke sal og undergår reflektionerne i de store vinduepartier, de skaber et intimt atmosfære i et rum som dog rækker helt ud til vandet og smelter i et med havnens egen store rum. Trægulvet forsætter gennem foyer'en og ud på dekket. De brede trapper og balkoner er mange af opholdspunkter hvorfra man kan betragte havnens levende sceneri. Farverne er med til at skabe den intime og storslået føldelse. Og så scenen... med de fantastiske muresten: som en grotte, som tangenter, som skyskrappers eller hvad fantasien nu finder på. Effekten er imponerende.
Jeg kan kun begejstre mig over skuespilhusets rumelighed og udførelse! Derfor kommer jeg der så ofte som jeg kan...

Stykket - lidt dansk kultur
Den Gamle Dame Besøger Byen af Friedrich Dürrenmatt er et fremragende stykke, synes jeg. Jeg havde ønsket om at se det pga. Ghita Nørby som spiller hovedrollen Klara. Havdet boet i udenlandet al den tid, har jeg ikke stort kendskab til den danske kultur og det jeg har kommer fra Matador og Olsen banden. Ja, le i bare! Så det var jo oplagt at jeg skulle se hvad Ingeborg var blivet til... Og hun er lige så fantastisk som altid -altså skuespillerinden fordi rollen Ghita Nørby har her er ganske grusom! Stykket minder mig om de græske tragedier hvor man viste Menneskets sorte sider og livets - eller gudernes - kolde skæbene i håb om at undergå det i det virkelig liv. Den Gamle Dame bliver jo også betegnet som en tragikomedie. Ja, komisk er den også og det gøre det tragiske endnu værre. Men det vækker mange tanker over Menneskeheden og definitionen til Retfærdigheden, koncept som ofte bliver trukket frem for viftet med.Læs noget mere om stykket her http://www.kglteater.dk/Forestillinger/Skuespil/Skuespil_09_10/Den_gamle_dame_besoeger_byen.aspx
eller endnu bedre, tag hend og se det!

Til dem som er interesseret i rundvisningen forgår den om weekenderne og bydes både på dansk og engelsk. Den koster 100 DKK.
Godt tips: tag dagens sidste rundtur: der mærker man lidt mere til optakten før forstillingen og så kan man snubbe en billet til aftens representation!