Danish architecture

And you only have to visit our country, to see that the contemporary Danish architects continue to shape urban and city Denmark with a sense of high quality, natural and very modern building design.

During the 1990s, Danish architecture was increasingly oriented towards the Neo-Modernism which was dominant internationally at the time, and at the start of the 21st century, it still has a strong hold on Danish architecture.

Both building forms and room layouts can be either severe and calm or highly dynamic, as for instance in Vilhelm Lauritzen’s Terminal 3 in Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, from 1998.

The most immediately obvious common feature is the often sophisticated use of Modernist materials: steel and glass, but also wood, natural stone and brick are common facade materials.

Neo-Modernism seems to follow several trends. One is the minimalist treatment of building volumes and surfaces, as in KHR’s building for Kommunedata in Ballerup from 2002, NNE’s Novo Seven Manufacturing Facility in Hillerød from 2002 and Dissing+Weitling’s Struers headquarters in Ballerup from 2004. Another trend involves conceptual simplification of form as in Schmidt Hammer Lassen’s ARoS Aarhus Museum of Art from 2004. A more poetic interpretation is also sometimes seen, for instance in Tårnby Courthouse from 2000 by Dorte Mandrup and Niels Fuglsang. Finally, many buildings, especially blocks of flats, are clearly inspired by 1930s Functionalism.

The most recent and largest prestige building projects in the capital, the Opera House from 2004 by Henning Larsen and the Playhouse from 2008 by Boye Lundgaard and Lene Tranberg, are also in their different ways based on the Modernist tradition, which is so strong in Denmark. A related treatment of form is seen on a smaller scale, for instance in the main entrance to the Zoo from 1998 by the firm of architects Entasis.

The Modernist approach to building projects is often supplemented with new features, including increased use of coloured elements, as in Christian Frederik Møller’s residential development Nordlyset at Amerika Plads in Copenhagen from 2006, and a shutter motif which adds movement to severely drawn facades, as in the FIH headquarters at the Langelinie quay in Copenhagen, built by 3xNielsen in 2001.

A new trend, the so-called Pragmatism, has emerged in recent years. This takes an extremely unconventional approach to the projects and re-interprets the assumptions of architecture in a provocative way. With projects such as the VM houses in Ørestaden from 2005, Plot has become the advocate of a new approach to architecture.

High-rise development is a new phenomenon, which has been received hesitantly in Denmark. However, high-rise buildings are currently planned in several cities across the country, while Copenhagen is starting cautiously in peripheral areas with the 21-storey Ferring International Centre in Ørestaden, built by Henning Larsen in 2001, and the 16-storey Copper Tower in Copenhagen’s North Harbour, built by Arkitema in 2004.

A characteristic feature around 2000 was Danish architects’ increasingly strong position in major projects. Dissing+Weit-ling started this trend as architects of the East Bridge of the Great Belt Link in 1998, while KHR is responsible for the most recent project so far, the Copenhagen Metro development in 2002.


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Architecture