European Capital of Culture 2017, Aarhus is experiencing an architectural boom with numerous real estate developments. Focus on 3 flagship buildings.
Founded by the Vikings in the 8th century, Aarhus won the title of European Capital of Culture this year. A 3-hour drive north of Copenhagen, the second (and oldest) city in Denmark is the fastest growing in the country. In the last ten years, Aarhus has welcomed 15,000 new residents. At the heart of this demographic boom, numerous real estate developments … the reason why Aarhus has not placed any new developments in its concerns, unlike the other European Capitals of Culture which often marked their cultural year with the inauguration of a flagship architecture building. One foot in the past, the other in the future, let’s focus on three powerful architectural gestures from Aarhus, like the theme it chose as European Capital of Culture 2017: rethinking the world of the 21st century, “Let’s Rethink “, around 160 activities and events.
Urban Icebergs
© 2012 isbjerget
With an artificial beach, community garden, wooden walkways, social housing, restaurants, offices: the new harbour district, completed this year, is an example of sustainable architecture. Don’t miss Franco-Belgian Julien De Smedt’s “Iceberg” project, a group of white concrete buildings whose pointed roofs evoke snow-capped peaks. And under the peaks, two hundred apartments with a view of the sea … urban skiing enthusiasts will be delighted.
Momu, Moesgaard Museum
© Rógvi N. Johansen; MOMU
With its partly buried white stone walls and its green roof terrace, descending gently to the meadow and the North Sea, this archeology museum, designed by the architect Henning Larsen, is a marvel of architecture. Its form is a gesture of boldness, with a colossal sloping roof structure that bursts on the ground while blending harmoniously into a picturesque landscape of hills and dense forests.
Aros, the Aarhus Art Museum
© Olafur Eliasson, 2011
Featuring a circular coloured glass walkway, where visitors discover the city as in the prism of a rainbow, this museum of contemporary art is the powerful new symbol of Aarhus. It is an eight-storey “white diamond”, topped by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson’s “Rainbow Panorama”. Suspended between the city and the sky, on the border between architecture and visual art, this observation platform is like a kinetic work, brought to life by the visitors walking about. You shouldn’t miss Australian sculptor Ron Mueck’s “Boy”, a 5-meter hyperrealist sculpture inspired by the aboriginal world.
