Case Study / DR Concert Hall

South of the capital city, Ørestad is a developing urban quarter growing out of a metro line placed between Copenhagen's historical downtown district and the city's international airport, located on the island of Amager. Burdened with low economic growth and high unemployment at the end of the 1980s, the Danish Parliament passed the 'Act of Ørestad' in 1992 (first Act of Parliament in thirty years where the state was involvement in a major new urban development project), creating the idea for a new major urban development scheme that would act as a 'city annex' attracting innovative national and international ventures, supported by a series of important infrastructure investments including a new metro line and the Øresund Link (tunnel/bridge project to Malmö, Sweden). Financing such an expansive project would be inspired by the English New Town principles, to which new infrastructure be subsidized by the incremental land value created by the very same Metro. By building Ørestad, Copenhagen not only financed the Metro, but also a new urban quarter that would usher Copenhagen out of financial crisis and create a testing ground to display the city's new ideas in architecture and city planning. In 1994, the winning project of an international architectural competition by a Finnish-Danish architecture studio (KHR Arkitekter) revealed an overall masterplan for Ørestad, dividing the area into four smaller districts, focused on integrating a highly-dense and modern city with the surrounding natural environment, forming attractive recreational access and sustainable planning to future residents / companies of the area.

“It is the intention to give full artistic freedom concerning architectural form, so that the new city quarter of Ørestad will boast state-of- the-art within architecture and art during the building years.”

— Masterplan competition stipulations for Ørestad

Area of Ørestad's urban quarter between Copenhagen's historic downtown area and the international airport. Red area locates Ørestad North or 'University District'.

KHR Arkitekter's masterplan for the University of Copenhagen and Ørestad North, 1997

Located off the first new Metro stop from Copenhagen, Ørestad North (University District) is the most developed of the four areas of Ørestad. Focused around the masterplan's idea of a central "village green", the Landscape Canal and the north-south-oriented University Canal define the new urban construction of The University of Copenhagen-southern campus. Each building would ensure contact to a functional outdoor space and the strong axis of the artificial University Canal, creating a powerful pedestrian hierarchy with a connection to nature. In 1999, state-owned Danish media company (DR) decided to join Ørestad North's campus to concentrate all of the company's activities from the metropolitan area into one address. DR Byen (DR's new headquarters, referred to as 'DR City') is a four-component complex that would account for all Danish Radio’s offices, TV, radio, and orchestra productions under one roof, even including a new state-of-the-art concert hall (Koncerthuset) for the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, further advancing Ørestad's goal of promoting progressive arts and technologies in the region. Unfortunately, DR Byen's construction process accumulated a range of controversial public outcries over budgetary concerns, allegedly due to the complexity of the concert hall, leading to high-profile resignations and drastic cutbacks in DR staff and public funding. In all, the entire project would cost almost three times as much as budgeted (up to $300 million), making the DR Concert Hall one of the most expensive concert halls ever built.

Back in 2002, Jean Nouvel would win the competition to design the 590,000-square-foot concert hall, as the fourth and final segment to the DR Byen project. As the yet-to-be-finished 'gate to Ørestad', the site would prove to be problematic as it was clustered on a barren site in an emerging neighborhood, wedged between the new elevated metro and the remaining unfinished DR Byen projects. The architect would react with caution to the untested local conditions, as it was not reliable to judge the newly built-up surroundings with an urban potential that is impossible to evaluate. With no urban response, the question had to be switched. How can this project contribute to and survive the future of this site? According to Nouvel, the response would be the mystery of uncertainty. "The proposal consists of materializing the territory and providing it with the scale of an exceptional urban facility. It will be a volume that will allow its interior to be guessed."

Sitting behind the dematerialized envelope of blue glass-fiber skin that is draped over a commanding steel structural frame, the theater becomes an architectural anomaly. One that seeks to hide behind a curtain, but still calls for attention. Nouvel’s design approach, both the container and the auditoriums and spaces within assume a vastly different character depending on the time of day you visit. During the day, the project sits as the figurehead of North Ørestad's artificial canal, caging a shadowy figure that cannot be accessed with public intrusion, only to open at night as an ethereal object with the glitz of lights and images on the screened envelope, becoming a beacon of light 148 ft up in the air, calling to oncoming visitors. It is an urban alarm clock that can't be set, only to awake the surrounding context when it wishes. The only problem is the site has not fully awoken to the theater's tantalizing images, a stark opposition to the sterile desolation around it with swaths of undeveloped land with tufts of grass and mounds of dirt extending around it.

“Building in emerging neighborhoods is a risk that has often proved fatal in recent years. When there is no built environment upon which to found our work, when we cannot evaluate a neighborhood’s future potential, we have to turn the question around: what qualities can we bring to this future? We can respond positively to an uncertainty by using its most positive attribute, that is, mystery. Mystery is never far from seduction.”

— Jean Nouvel, Architect

Model displaying the interior workings of theater

DR Concert Hall  /  Site analysis of access, circulation, new development, and points of social engagement — DR Concert Hall / Site analysis of access, circulation, new development, and points of social engagement

Case Study / Royal Danish Playhouse & Copenhagen Opera House

For centuries, Copenhagen had depended on its Inner Harbor (Inderhavnen) and the strong maritime network the area has served to the Baltic Sea. Developed as a deep channel that cuts between two islands, the harbor was the center of urban activity, teeming with lively, exotic, dirty, and sometimes dangerous elements. But by the second half of the 20th century, the shipping industry had changed with new technologies and greater demands on urban infrastructure. Proximity to the downtown was becoming obsolete as goods were packed into huge steel containers stacked by cranes the size of buildings on the decks of giant freighters, demanding enormous ports with vast areas of land for daily operations. Copenhagen and virtually every large historical port city had developed similar symptoms: dilapidated docks, abandoned warehouses, and fences sealing downtown off from the quieted waters. The great urban project of the postindustrial age was to heal the coastal scar left by the evacuated maritime industry.

In 2000, the municipality of Copenhagen initiated a development strategy for the entire harbor area, divided into three geographical sections, each analyzed by a separate design studio. Henning Larsen Architects was commissioned to analyze the Inderhavnen area and outline different alternative solutions to exhibit the possibilities of new urban growth on the waterfront. The conclusion of the work relied on mixing residential and commercial buildings with emphasis on large public cultural institutions to create a dynamic city life. Functionally, no building was permitted to "turn its back" to the harbor, complimenting already defined plans of public promenades and squares along the entire harbor fairway with the purpose of stressing and strengthening waterfront activities. The large cultural 'magnets' would later be defined as the Royal Danish Playhouse and the Copenhagen Opera House.

“In our opinion this would create a rich variety in the urban environment, and by adding quality and coherence to the areas the harbor would provide an attraction to the citizens of Copenhagen as well as to visitors from all over the world.”

— Henning Larsens Architects

Henning Larsen's proposal for Copenhagen's Inner Harbor

Two of Copenhagen's most significant urban redevelopment projects would assist in Henning Larsen's proposed master plan for Inderhavnen - the 'car-free zones' of Strøget and Nyhavn. The sequence of streets known collectively as Strøget was the beginning of a successful string of pedestrian-only streets developed in the 1960's that became a strong reaction to the congested automobile culture in downtown Copenhagen. Evolved from one clogged traffic artery, the city began systematically banishing cars from gracious squares and narrow streets that had degenerated over time, encouraging people to commute by foot or bicycle again. A controversial plan at the time, it is now one of the longest pedestrian streets in Europe and is considered a highly influential study in contemporary urban design (influenced by Danish architect and urban planner Jan Gehl). The sequence of streets is a major pedestrian boulevard through the center of Copenhagen, from Radhuspladsen (City Hall Square) to the large bustling square of Kongens Nlytorv (King's New Square). Nyhavn, one of the oldest waterfront districts in the city, soon would follow the trend. In the 1980s the large car-park and once-forlorn canal of Nyhavn was incrementally converted into a pedestrian area that was immediately invaded by cafés and shops, full up all year round, becoming Copenhagen’s most often portrayed public space and a catalyst to the harbor's waterfront development.

“When Strøget in Copenhagen was changed into a pedestrian street in 1962, it was after much debate and with considerable reservations. If, at the time, anyone had predicted that the city center would have six times as many car-free areas 34 years later, and that car traffic and parking possibilities would be substantially reduced, it would have been met with a great deal of skepticism. That life in the city center could flourish markedly would simply have been too unbelievable.”

— Jan Gehl, 'Public Spaces Public Life'

Amagertorv Square, part of the Strøget pedestrian zone

Bars and restaurants lining the northern side of Nyhavn

Diagram showing the uninterrupted path of car-free zones from City Hall Square to Kvæsthusbroen. A total distance of 2350m (7710 ft).

The Playhouse

Since the 1880s, the Royal Danish Theatre had sought to relieve a congested home theater - the Old Stage - by expanding the Royal Playhouse drama company into a new building that would showcase the city's latest trends in acting. A suitable site and proper financing would not develop until around 2000 when international ferry operations would be relocated from Kvæsthusbroen Landing Stage, near Nyhavn, to a new DFDS terminal in the northern part of Copenhagen harbor. This relocation made the site at Kvæsthusbroen open to new development, later sold by Port of Copenhagen, Ltd. to the Danish Ministry of Culture, creating the possibility of building a new public arts center on the waterfront, eventually becoming the new Royal Danish Playhouse. After winning an international design competition, Danish architectural practice Lundgaard and Tranberg was chosen for the task, with construction beginning in 2004.

The building's design acknowledges three important site features: a revitalized Nyhavn region with heavy pedestrian traffic, a strong promenade along the Inderhavnenwaterfront, and panoramic views of Copenhagen's historic skyline. The harbor becomes the important component as the architects chose to move the theater forward into the harbor (about 40% of the building projecting over the water), with the visitors entering on gently sloping ramps, which, besides being the point of arrival, serve as a promenade pivoting around the playhouse, diverting pedestrians onto a raised 150m long walkway that affords panoramic views of the harbor and hosts an open cafe/restaurant. The tripartite abstract composition of the playhouse benefits the siting, as the continuous horizontal upper storey of private functions cantilever out above the water, creating a tall glazed public foyer that invites shelter and integration of the waterfront's broad promenade public space, injecting new life into the central part of the inner harbor that forms the continuation of Nyhavn.

View from Kvaesthusgade (north west facade)

While successful on the harbor side, the Royal Danish Theater becomes problematic toward the city, essentially ignoring the urban fabric and turning its back to the historic center of Copenhagen. Although the project follows the master plan's guideline with intention to inject the waterfront with a new cultural venue, when one arrives from the main Avenues of Nyhavn or Sankt Annae Plads, the theater is virtually invisible. Approaching from Nyhavn's pedestrian waterside street, one must turn hard left, up a fairly narrow ramp, to enter, like boarding a ship ready to disembark. There is an urban disconnect when the only truly active elevation is coming from the East (waterside), while others bare disengaging brick walls and the axis of the streets slide right by into the water. However, to the northeast, there are promising developments on the former Kvæsthusbroen Landing Stage called 'Ofelia Beach' that offers temporary outdoor performance stages and lounge areas, activating the theater to an urban/social terrain.

The Opera House

From the playhouse, it’s a short trip by water bus across the inner harbor to the Operaen (Copenhagen Opera House), donated to the Danish state by Denmark's wealthest citizen and shipping mogul, A.P. Møller with the Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation, in 2000. Five years later, the 14-story structure rose up from a former naval base on Holmen Island - once the epicenter of Denmark's military and industrial complexes - in the city harbor, completing the historical axis running through the Queen's palace and the domed Marble Church. As one of the most expensive opera houses ever built (over $450 million) on a significantly visible piece of land in the harbor, the project brought a high-level of controversy, with politicians claiming the full cost of the project would be tax deductible, virtually forcing the government to buy the building, along with community leaders questioning the size and infrastructure needed for such a project. However, it would be the public disputes between Møller and his architects, Henning Larsen Architects, that would garner much of the attention during the construction of Denmark's first opera house. After acquisition of the land, the architecture firm was handed the commission by Møller himself, as they had worked on numerous successful projects in the past. The Danish government, happy to receive such a generous gift, didn't interfere when HLA was awarded the project without an architectural competition, commonly held in grand public projects of this type, or when Møller refused to discuss the design to the public during the four-year construction period. The architect, trying to make sure that the original architectural ideas were carried through the construction process, would consistently have disagreements with the client, who was viewed in the press to have dictatorial control over the entire project until completion in 2005. Henning Larsen would state before the building's grand opening, "What we have now is a compromise which failed, and this makes me sad".

From around the city's harbor waterfront, the Opera advertises itself with a distinctive size and central position in the Copenhagen cityscape. Anchored on a site, once abandoned and neglected for years by the military, that has gone through a metamorphosis. In connection with the new master plan, the existing island was separated by two new 17 meter-wide canals into three islands, accentuating the placement of the Opera House on the central island and emphasizing the maritime location of the structure. In designing the project, key attention is given to the arrival plaza, framed by a 32m long floating roof overhang that draws the public towards a vast transparent foyer looking right over the harbor toward Amalienborg Palace (Queen's Residence). The front of the house is visually integrated in the harbor space, whereas the back of the building, designed as a lower building block, relates to the vernacular structures in the area and to the proposed new apartment blocks on the north and south side of the building. Unfortunately, the location of the project and focus on maritime siting has disconnected the Opera House with downtown Copenhagen. As it stands now, the project sits alone (the proposed residential projects have not gone forward) on three large islands in the middle of Copenhagen's Inner Harbor, with limited access for all forms of transportation. The 'Copenhagen Harbour Bus' is realistically the only option for pedestrians and bikers to reach the Opera island from across the harbor, which can be problematic with certain weather conditions. Additionally, unlike the Royal Danish Playhouse, the Opera House does not allow public access to the building when performances are not showing, with no accessible watering hole (restaurants or cafes) to enjoy the vast arrival plaza on the waterfront, creating a somber environment throughout the day.

Promise of Pedestrian Bridges

Since the completion of the new Copenhagen Opera House, city officials have realized the area's need for connectivity and have been intent on looking for a solution to improve access from central Copenhagen to 'Opera Island' across the harbor. When the Royal Danish Playhouse was completed back in 2008, there was consideration for a pedestrian and bicycle bridge to link the Playhouse with the Opera, however plans to build bridges in the area have met heavy criticism from those living in Christianshavn, who were afraid that they would have a detrimental affect on the characteristic maritime environment of the quarter and that the bridges will mean that sailing boats will no longer have access to the area. After years of various proposals and competitions, with even a underground tunnel considered, the city agreed on a new network of openable pedestrian bridges - a long bridge over the inner harbor and shorter bridges over some of the canals - that would increase access to the Opera and the surrounding Holmen region. The winning designs, slated to begin construction, consist of a longer retractile bridge with a transparent/low profile to allow for views across the harbor, as well as smaller conventional single-leaf and double-leaf bascule structures over the harbor canals. When complete, these connections should transform the Inderhavnen area, finally merging opposing sides of the harbor with a strengthening horizontal movement and indentifying with Copenhagen's urban culture.

Pedestrian Bridge Proposal by Lundgaard & Tranberg Arkitekter, 2007 (not built)

Pedestrian Bridge Proposal by Flint & Neill and Studio Bednarski, start of construction in 2011

Almost sitting in front of each other, these two projects express a growing strategic consensus in urban design that demands the urban waterfront be a public amenity, but deviate on the processes needed to achieve such a goal. Although both are driven by a common client (Royal Danish Theatre) and an idealistic masterplan, one that encourages the assemblage and a focused convergence of cultural institutions, both are developed by contradicting processes - public opinion v. private decision, urban integration v. remote separation, programmatic expression v. grand gestures. But, both share a commonality as lanterns on the waterfront, glowing from within their grand foyers, waiting to attract interest from society and urban growth through the cultural Renaissance of Copenhagen.

Royal Danish Playhouse & Copenhagen Opera House / Site analysis of access, circulation, new development, and points of social engagement

Copenhagenization / Bicycle-Friendly Infrastructure

Cycling in Copenhagen has become an essential means of transportation and a dominating feature of the urban cityscape, often a powerful visual attribute with cycling popularity leading to congested bike paths throughout the day. The capital city - a city with more bicycles than people - has earned a reputation as one of the most (possibly the most) bicycle-friendly cities in the world. Starting in the 1960s, Copenhagen experienced a decline in utility cycling due to increasing wealth and affordability of motor vehicles. Consequently, with the energy crisis and the growing environmental movement in the 1970s, cycling experienced a renaissance. Danes were restricted in how much they could use the automobile, forcing commuters to began a campaign for better alternative infrastructure and cyclist-friendly policies. Today, the city boasts more than 200 miles of bicycle lanes, with 55% of its 1.8 million inhabitants riding a bike daily (37% from Greater Copenhagen). The city's success in bicycle use can be contributed to a variety of favorable cycling conditions — dense urban proximities, short distances and flat terrain — along with an extensive, well-designed system of wide cycle paths that are often safely separated from main car traffic lanes and occasionally have their own signal systems.

In recent years, Copenhagen has continued to support urban programs that will only help expand the city's sustainable transportation trend. Programs such as an urban bicycle-sharing initiative, a system of 1,000 publically-accessible bicycles - referred to as Bycykler (English: City Bikes) - throughout the city. The scheme would be the world's first large-scale urban bike-share program featuring specially-designed bikes with parts that could not be used on other bikes. The system, funded by commercial sponsors, allows riders to pay a refundable deposit at one of 100 special bike stands and have unlimited use of a bike within a specified area. Also, the City of Copenhagen is currently underway on an extensive network of bike lanes to extend farther out into the suburbs. A network of 13 high-class routes - 'bicycle superhighways' - dedicated to reducing traffic and increase the percentage of suburban commuters cycling to and from the city to over 50 percent. The proposed bike highways will be dotted with pit stops where it will be possible for cyclists to pump their tires and fix their bike chains, as well as synchronized traffic lights prioritizing bicycles over cars, bringing riders from the suburbs into Copenhagen safely and more efficiently.

The term Copenhagenization is a current concept in urban planning and design that relates to the implementation of better pedestrian facilities and segregated bicycle facilities for cycling in cities. Copenhagen's well-developed bicycle culture has given rise to the term, focusing city transport on pedestrian and cycling, rather than the car, and the benefits for street life and the natural environment, the health and fitness of citizens, and the level of amenity in cities. Originally coined by architect Jan Gehl, Urban design consultant and journalist Mikael Colville-Andersen, would popularize the term in this meaning to a broader audience, starting in 2007 with the Copenhagenize blog, that highlights how the bicycle can be an important tool in the creation of livable cities. Currently, this practice has been introduced in other cities - adopting Copenhagen-style bike lanes and bicycle infrastructure - in areas such as Melbourne, as well as New York City Department of Transportation's attempt to re-imagine city streets by introducing designs to improve life for pedestrians and cyclists.

Danish bike culture was put on the world's stage with BIG Architect's Danish pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. The pavilion was designed as a traffic loop created by the motion of city bikes and pedestrians tied in a knot, allowing visitors to gain the experience of urban cycling in Copenhagen by taking one of its 300 free city bikes along the cycle paths which are incorporated throughout the structure. The pavilion’s theme Welfairytales (Welfare + Fairytales) re-launched the bicycle in Shanghai as a symbol of lifestyle and sustainable urban development. When the Expo closed, the pavilion was planned to be moved to another site in Shanghai and function as a transfer point for Shanghai’s new city bikes.

BIG's Denmark Pavilion, Shanghai Expo 2010 — BIG's Denmark Pavilion, Shanghai Expo 2010

Renewable Energy / Wind Power

The world's first carbon-neutral capital by 2025. That is Copenhagen's goal, aiming to turn 50% of Danish electricity consumption into offshore wind power (currently around 25%). The capital city has always been recognized as one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the world, with much of the city's success attributed to strong community leadership combined with a sound national policy. Concerned with the relatively huge carbon dioxide emissions of their coal-fired electrical power plants back in the 1970s (along with the oil crisis), the Danish government rapidly supported broad initiatives that have supported clean and renewable alternatives to energy production, such as wind energy development, resulting in a dramatic reduction in the cost of electricity and pollution. Wind power was an obvious choice looking at Denmark's geographical location which has very large offshore wind resources, and large areas of sea territory with a shallow water depth where siting is most feasible. Economically, the Danish system created one of the first viable wind technology industries in the world by providing 30% of initial investment capital cost to green firms in the early years which was gradually reduced to zero. On a smaller scale, tax deductions were offered to families if they generated, or participated in cooperatives that generated wind energy within their own or neighboring municipality, creating a grassroots investment in wind power that would finance 86% of all wind turbines in Denmark. Today, almost half of the wind turbines placed around the world are produced by Danish manufacturers, producing a successful and profitable industry that continually reinvests in itselft, continually creating more efficient technologies.

In 2000, the city of Copenhagen took part in a large offshore wind farm project called Middelgruden, built one mile (2km) off the coastline of the capital city in the Øresund strait of the North Sea. Clearly visible from Copenhagen, the project is the world's largest offshore farm, consisting of a slightly curved line of 20 turbines, each 365 ft tall with a rotor diameter of 250 ft. Together, the project produces 40 MW of energy, or enough to power 3% of the city of Copenhagen. Financially, the ownership of the project is shared equally between the Copenhagen Utility and a wind-energy cooperative of over 8,500 indviduals that financed their half by purchasing shares. The success of this bold project, along with the direct location and public backing, states the importance of wind power in Denmark.

Context / Copenhagen, Denmark

A 1000-year-old harbor town located in the Øresund Region of Denmark, Copenhagen has been viewed as a metaphorical bridge between Northern Europe and Scandinavia. It is a city that transcends from its historical appeal of copper spires, cobbled squares and pastel-colored town houses, to a thriving modern metropolis of cutting edge designers, efficient transport systems and environmental awareness. Before becoming the capital and largest metropolitan area in Denmark the city originated, like so many other Scandinavian cities, as a small fishing village; with it's occupants taking advantage of the sheltered waters around a region called Slotsholmen Island. By the 12th century, Slotsholmen had been fortified by Bishop Absalon (Danish archbishop renowned as the founder of Copenhagen) in keeping with the settlements growing aspirations and important commercial status, a status signified by it's name, Komandshavn, the "port of the merchants", later amended to Kobenhavn. After the coronation of Christian IV of Denmark in 1596, the city was significantly enlarged by the addition of new city districts and modern fortifications, along with the construction of numerous significant civic buildings designed to enhance his pretige. By the time of his death, Copenhagen had become the centre of trade and power in Northern Europe. However, destruction would soon follow, as large fires and a British bombardment/invasion would ravage the urban fabric for more than a century. With most of the medieval town destroyed, city planners used the dramatic increase of free space to update the urban infrastructure, as well as expand the city centre into new territories for housing, emerging as a major European capital once again.

Copper statue of Bishop Absalon in front of St. Nikolaj Church

Pastel-colored town houses in Copenhagen's Christianshavn district

Sometimes referred to as "the City of Spires", Copenhagen is known for its horizontal skyline, only broken by spires at churches and castles. Walking through the city, you realize that Copenhagen has a multitude of districts/neighborhoods that create a dense urban fabric, each representing its time and own distinctive character, but all sharing a common denominator: water. Whether it be near a medieval canal, artificial lake, old harbor, beach shoreline, artificial island or even the strait of Øresund, the city is immersed by maritime culture. This ongoing relationship with the city's aquatic context, along with narrow medieval street grids, can prove to be difficult in terms of access and traffic infastructure, which explains the city's car congestion problems and emphasis on more sustainable (pedestrian/bicycle) modes of transportation. In fact, ever since city planners turned Copenhagen's traditional main street (Strøget) into a pedestrian thoroughfare in 1962, the public has gradually turned away from the car, adding more pedestrian-only or pedestrian-priority streets and turning parking lots into public squares. The broad expanse of relaxed, traffic-free environments, lead to a refreshing world of lively streets, colorful squares and hidden corners, where pedestrians are the priority. The resulting effect has kept Copenhagen's horizontal skyline low-slung and densely spaced, honoring a human scale and kept residents safe from the blistering cold winds the city occasionally faces, while successfully animating a new urban culture and attracting more residents to live closer to the city center (now 70% of the population live in urban area) - eliminating a dependence on the car. In 1992, as the city limits started to expand, construction began on a major new underground Copenhagen Metro train system. Completed in 2002 (while more expansions are currently underway), the added rail system only reinforces the attitude of the city, creating an inheritably pedestrian city.

Copenhagen's historic harbor district - Nyhavn

There is no doubt that the last ten years of the city's development and expansive building activity in Copenhagen will stand out as a very important decade in the city's history. As the government has decided to keep the historical center free of large high-density buildings, several areas will see massive urban development. Former industrial and harbor areas have already been converted into city districts and whole new neighborhoods have emerged, consisting of numerous innovative housing schemes and commercial buildings, changing the city's skyline and feeding Danish design aspirations. In addition, public spaces and sustainable ideas (long associated with Copenhagen's design practices) have increasingly come to play a key role in the evolution of the city. Ørestad is one of those recent developments, located on the island of Amager near Copenhagen Airport (the largest in Scandinavia), it currently boasts one of the largest malls in Scandinavia and a variety of office and academic buildings, such as IT University and a high school. Connected primarily through the new Metro train system, the area is also a redefinition of suburban lifestyles with residential complexes that challenge conventional thinking by combining the splendors of the suburban backyard with the social richness of urban density. When construction is finished, Ørestad is expected to house up to 20,000 new inhabitants and provide up to 80,000 new jobs.

Residential and Academic Developments along Ørestad's Metro line

BIG's 8HOUSE on the outermost tip of Ørestad

Office Developments in Copenhagen's Havnestaden District