Chinese architect Wang Shu was awarded the most distinguished architectural honor, the Pritzker Prize, in 2012 for his ability to create architecture. “The Architect’s Studio” at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen focuses on Chinese architect Wang Shu (b. 1963).
The Architect’s Studio is a new series of Louisiana exhibitions focusing on a new generation of pace-setting and prize-winning architects. The series intends to show developments among contemporary architects whose sustainable and socially aware practices take on the challenges of globalization. The first exhibition of this series focuses on Chinese architect Wang Shu.
Wang Shu and his wife Lu Wenyu
Wang Shu and his wife Lu Wenyu stand at the head of the Amateur Architecture Studio based in Hangzhou in China. The name of the studio underscores the vision of letting spontaneity, the available materials and local culture and building traditions form the basis for architecture which in Wang Shu’s own words should be “a house rather than a building”.
The specific design of the exhibition is being created in collaboration with Amateur Architecture, and besides presenting selected projects will include a more general introduction to traditional Chinese culture and philosophy as declared sources of inspiration for Wang Shu. In addition Amateur Architecture’s installation At The Parallel Scene from the 2016 Venice Biennale will form part of the exhibition.
Selected projects will include a more general introduction to traditional Chinese culture and philosophy
At a time when China’s explosive urbanization is making inroads into the rural areas and leaving the marks of cheap concrete construction everywhere, Wang Shu and Amateur Architecture are keen to work against this tendency by re-using materials from the buildings that the Chinese authorities are systematically tearing down and rebuilding after western models.
The practice that typifies Amateur Architecture thus emphasizes simple functionality over spectacular form, restoration over new construction, tradition over modernism. With projects like the Ningbo History Museum and the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, Amateur Architecture insists on directing attention towards Chinese history, philosophy, landscape and culture.This implies distancing themselves from the influence of western culture, which in China, too, is a clear consequence of globalization.
Wang Shu was awarded the most distinguished architectural honor, the Pritzker Prize, in 2012 for his ability to create architecture, “opens new horizons while at the same time resonates with place and memory.” The prize jury noted, that his buildings have the unique ability to evoke the past, without making direct references to history. and that his architecture is exemplary in its strong sense of cultural continuity and re-invigorated tradition.
Wang Shu opens new horizons while at the same time resonates with place and memory
“He calls his office Amateur Architecture Studio,” the jury citation stated, “but the work is that of a virtuoso in full command of the instruments of architecture—form, scale, material, space and light. The 2012 Pritzker Architecture Prize is given to Wang Shu for the exceptional nature and quality of his executed work, and also for his ongoing commitment to pursuing an uncompromising, responsible architecturearising from a sense of specific culture and place.”
The 2012 Pritzker Architecture Prize is given to Wang Shu for the exceptional nature and quality of his executed work
For several years Louisiana has presented major thematic exhibitions on architecture, culture, identity such as LIVING, New Nordic and AFRICA. With The Architect’s Studio, a series of monographic exhibition, the musuem sets off from an earlier series shown 1998-2005. The focus then was on prestige projects of so-called ‘starchitects’ like Norman Foster, Frank Gehry and Jean Nouvel.
The aim of this new series is to trace the development in architecture since that time. How does a new generation of pace-setting architects work? What are their concerns, their challenges, what do they have in common? How do they respond to globalization, the environment, social problems? To be shown the the next couple of years, this series will include among others Alejandro Aravena from Chile (winner of the 2016 Pritzker Prize) and Tatiana Bilbao from Mexico.
Reclaiming China in Denmark, source: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
Last Thursday the prize-winning film “Vita activa – The Spirit of Hannah Arendt” by Ada Ushpiz had its first Norwegian performance and a panel discussion consisting of scholars in the Humanities, such as philosophy, political science, peace research and education.
Vita activa poster
It took Ada Ushpiz 5 years to complete the film on Hannah Arendt. The actual production started on December 2012, ending in June 2015.
“The ultimate test of Arendt’s political-moral thinking, in my eyes, lies in its consistent relevance not only to the postmodern world she foresaw, but also to our current crumbled, disintegrated political world, where logic, in its worse sense, overpowers thought, and advances totalitarian patterns in democratic societies – Donald Trump’s America, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israel and others,” says Ushpiz.
Hannah Arendt, who died in 1975, was a prolific and unclassifiable thinker, a political theorist, moral philosopher and polemicist of unmatched range and rigor, who caused an uproar in the 1960s. She coined the subversive concept of the “Banality of Evil” when she was referring to the Adolph Eichmann trial.
The panel – from left to right: Helgard Mahrdt, Truls Lie and Rina Rosh
The documentary by Ada Ushpiz draws on a wealth of source material in a detailed examination of her convictions. Correspondence read aloud in voice-over accompanies the photographs, home movies and other archive material, and these scenes are intercut with interviews with her contemporaries.
The film’s focus, however, is much wider than the still-potent debate over “Eichmann in Jerusalem,” which was widely and fiercely attacked for what critics took to be its trivialization of Eichmann’s deeds and its lack of sympathy for his victims.
The panel – from left to right: Geir Aaserud, Helgard Mahrdt and Truls Lie.Photo: Jon KaurelWolfgang Heuer
The panel last Thursday consisted of Rina Rosh, Tel Aviv, researcher for the film Vita activa, Wolfgang Heuer, FU Berlin, Political Science, Henrik Syse, Peace Research Institute Oslo, Geir Aaserud, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Zoran Kurelic University of Zagreb Political Science and Helgard Mahrdt, Research Fellow in the Humanities, Department of Education, Univerrsity of Oslo. They discussed the many layers of Arendt’s life in the proper light, sticking to her rigorous thought processes. Moderator was Truls Lie, Editor-in-Chief of Ny Tid (Modern Times).
Interest in Arendt throughout the world, especially among young people, who find her insights into the nature of evil, totalitarianism, ideologies, and the perils faced by refugees, more relevant than ever. This was also a topic across the panel.
The anel – from left tp right: Helgard Mahrdt, Truls Lie, Rina Rosh and Zoran Korelic
“In filmmaking, one cannot jeopardize the lucidity of storytelling, and from time to time, one needs to find points of conclusions. In a length of two hours’ film, paragraphs need to be shortened, sometimes to one sentence. It should be acknowledged that in such condensed limited timeframe one could not bring forward all the avenues and development of even one idea,” says Ushpiz.
Hannah Arendt’s coverage of the Eichmann trial is still causing controversy. (Getty Images)
World War I forced masses of people to leave their homes, they became refugees and what Arendt coins “superfluous”. Arendt understood this and saw it as the rehearsal of what should happen later: the crime (Holocaust) against humanity executed on the Jewish people. “The film makes the case that exile allows some thinkers to see the bigger picture, even as they’re forced to sacrifice their own notion of home,” says Ada Ushpiz.
The film, produced by go2films, has gained several awards, among them “Winner – best documentary – Santa Barbara Film Festival” and “Best Research Award 2016” from the Israeli Documentary Filmmakers Forum.
Portrait (on top) photo courtesy of the Hannah Arendt Bluecher Literary Trust and Jerome Kohn
Prize Winning Documentary and Debate on Hannah Arendt in Oslo, written and photographed (if not otherwise noted) by Tor Kjolberg
The Swedish architect Elding Oscarson is leaving a trace of eccentric as well as experimental architecture with the ‘home by the sea’ in the Swedish seaside town Mölle.
Elding Oscarson’s house ‘Mölle by the Sea’
When it comes to topography and landscape, Mölle is an extreme location. In addition It has an extreme history, since Northern Europeans were migrating to the “Sinful Mölle” around the turn of the century. “Sinful” because men and women were allowed to enjoy each other’s company at the same beach.
An asterisk-like footprint with three wings projecting to the various corners of the site
Today Mölle is considered an architecturally conservative area which provided a series of challenges and features when Oscarson was planning the home for a couple and their child. It has become a house that enjoys views in all directions rather than focusing each room towards the Östersund sea.
The ground level reflects the lush surroundings
‘Molle by the Sea’ is a 300sqm house, both exposed and private with the social zone on the main level completely clad in floor to ceiling glazing and the upper, private volume wrapped in a stunning display of oversized rough sawn Douglas-fir boards.
Elding Oscarson’s house ‘Mölle by the Sea’
The site has many qualities all around, with stone and brick walls, vegetation, and an original old ice cellar semi-submerged into a hill. An asterisk-like footprint with three wings projecting to the various corners of the site, delineate private yards of different characteristics.
‘Molle by the Sea’ is a 300sqm house
The graphic form of the plan results in a building volume that rather reads as a fragmentized whole – from some angles striking, from other neat. Full-height glass panels allow the exterior to frame the interior and allow the owners the constant enjoyment of the scenic surroundings.
View into the living room
One of the most predominant eccentricities of the home is the choice to wrap the main level in glazing for a transparency that gives a floating effect to the upper volume. It is a study of contrasting elements working in harmony with each other.
Upstairs the bedrooms are fitted within a more opaque form clad in large format Douglas-fir planks that provide more privacy and introduce a new material to the street.
View to the sea
The furnishings are carefully selected to offer a fresh and free spirited aesthetic to the social zone.
A Swedish Home of Tenderness and Contrast, written by Tor Kjolberg
Three years of renovation, after a fire in April 2015, Denmark’s world class science center reopens better than ever.
Pulstorvet (Pusle Marked). Photo: David Trood
Copenhagen’s child-friendly science and tech hot spot Experimentarium has finally opened its doors again in Tuborg Havn in Hellerup. Located 15 minutes north of the center of Copenhagen and designed by Danish firm CEBRA Architecture, the museum now has a roof terrace, 16 exhibits on 1,500 square meters spread across four floors, and the world’s first interactive cinema equipped with motion sensors, where everyone in the auditorium has to cooperate.
The Port. Photo: David Trood
The interactive exhibitions focus on science and technology, and the Interactive Film Theatre was developed by Experimentarium and the Canadian science center Science North and made possible by a donation from TrygFonden. The redesign has added a large café and a picnic-area, a convention center, teaching facilities and a series of workshops, as well as the popular exhibits the Bubblearium, The Idea Company and House of Inventions.
Experimentarium plays an important role as an informal learning space and as a supplement to schools and upper secondary education
The twisting double helix located at the building’s entrance contains 160 tons of steel and is clad with 10 tons of copper.
The new Experimentarium offers hours of phenomenal experiences
“We consume passive entertainment at an all-time high and we surround ourselves with devices that help us do almost everything,” says Experimentarium project manager, Henrik Helsgaun. “But when technology and entertainment go hand in hand in the right way, we can also create physical experiences that inspire us to become more active — just like The Interactive Film Theatre does,” he adds.
The interactive exhibitions focus on science and technologyTunnel of Senses. Photo: Christian Yssing
Experimentarium plays an important role as an informal learning space and as a supplement to schools and upper secondary education. The interactive exhibits explore everything from the human body to the fascinating science of soap bubbles.
“We provide families, schools classes and science-lovers in general, across all ages, with high-quality science exhibitions, where you’re allowed to touch and play and experience science in an innovative, new way,” writes Experimentarium on its website.
“The new Experimentarium offers hours of phenomenal experiences. But Experimentarium can also be summed up in that single moment when the spark of curiosity ignites and you suddenly see the light in a new way. Curiosity is the stuff the Experimentarium is made of — and curiosity is where the discovery of science and technology starts,” says Kim Gladstone Herlev, CEO.
The building itself is also rather remarkable. CEBRA won the architectural competition in 2011 to design the new Experimentarium and its design makes the museum feel much bigger and lighter than the previous incarnation. The architectural centerpiece is the curving copper clad Helix staircase inspired by the DNA molecule’s spiral shape.
Experimentarium is designed by Danish firm CEBRA Architecture
The architects reused wall structures and foundations from the old Tuborg bottling plant, which was also the setting for the first Experimentarium, and added boxes, made partly of recycled beer and aluminum cans, to the shiny perforated exterior and large glass windows, creating a much lighter and open feeling.
On the rooftop. Photo: Anders Bruun
Kolja Nielsen, chief executive of CEBRA, said: “We have designed a building that reflects and supports Experimentarium’s exciting exhibits. Both the interior and exterior are strongly inspired by science and technology.”
Experimentarium plays an important role as an informal learning space. Photo: David Trood
Experimentarium has long been a public favorite, attracting over 8 million visitors since opening in 1991. The new Experimentarium expects half a million visitors in 2017 and hopes to attract more international tourists and day visitors from across Denmark and neighbors from Sweden and Norway.
Crown Prince Frederik was among the dignitaries who took part in the official opening ceremony January. 25.
Images via CEBRA Architecture
Experimentarium in Copenhagen Reopened, written by Tor Kjolberg
We wish to thank Henriette Hauge at Experimentarium for her support
At the Edvard Munch Museum in Oslo, the works of Edvard Munch is now juxtaposed against Gustave Flaubert’s groundbreaking novel Madame Bovary.
Two masters come face to face when Munch’s pictures are set against video installations and make us reflect upon how we view each other in social situations and question what happens when we are denied visual dialogue.
Edvard Munch, self-portraitMadame B
For the first time, at the exhibition “Emma & Edvard – Love in the Time of Loneliness”, the works of Edvard Munch are being exhibited together with a comprehensive video installation. Madame B (2014) created by Michelle Williams Gamaker together with the internationally renowned culture theorist, artist and curator Mieke Bal, who is also curator of this exhibition.
The installation comprises eight video installations together with around 75 of Munch’s works – both well-known works as well as rarely exhibited paintings and graphic works. Madame B is a modern interpretation of Flaubert’s 1856 novel. This exhibition displays how the modernity of Munch’s works is brought into focus.
“It’s a great opportunity, and a great challenge to curate an exhibition out of the collection
Madame Bovary, book-cover
of Munch’s paintings at the Munch Museum in Oslo, says the Dutch cultural theorist, video artist and critic Mieke Bal. “Munch is one of the greatest modernist painters, so different from the cliché idea of modernism,” she adds.
The different halls of the exhibition are linked to themes surrounding the subject of social loneliness and the cinematic form of expression. Loneliness is often caused by a lack of communication and manifests itself through a socially awkward exchange of sideways glances.
Mieke Bal
“Emma & Edvard is actually a triple project,” explains Mieke Bal, “curating an exhibition of Munch, a fabulous artist I never really got to know, but now I will. Include the 19-screens, 8-scenes exhibition Madame B Installation pieces, that Michelle Williams Gamaker and I made, and have already exhibited in many places, as you can see here: Madame B. And instead of the traditional catalogue, I will write a book, to accompany the dual exhibition.”
The Wedding of a Bohemian, one of Munch’s great works, provides a good example of failed communication: the bride is isolated in her loneliness despite being surrounded by seven men. The painting is exhibited in close proximity to a wedding scene in the Madame B video installation showing newlywed Emma B – ruefully and in desperation – moving amongst the guests, who are busily occupied gossiping about her.
Mieke Bal and Michelle Williams Gamakker
The merciless self-portrait of Edvard Munch is Bal’s favorite painting of loneliness (see above). The sagging shoulders and interiorized gaze speak volumes to the expression of loneliness; the painting almost becomes an emblem of that psych-social state.
Edvard Munch Museum in Oslo
The direct (audio-)visual interplay between Munch’s art and Flaubert’s texts provides us with the opportunity to make up our own stories.
Feature image (on top) Edvard Munch: Wedding of the Bohemians
The exhibition runs through 17 April 2017.
Now in Oslo: Love in the Time of Loneliness, written by Tor Kjolberg
The world´s first electric road was inaugurated near the city of Gävle in central Sweden last summer, the result of a unique partnership demonstrating the path towards fossil-free transportation. Scania is supplying with the electrically-powered trucks, which will operate under real traffic conditions.
Swedish truck OEM Scania (which is owned by Germany’s Volkswagen) is working with German technology-development firm Siemens to develop a new concept in commercial vehicle operation.
The strip on the electric road E16 features a dedicated hybrid truck lane with a Siemens conductive system
Sweden has thus become the first country to build an electric highway, creating a short 1.2 mile (2 kilometer) stretch of road that powers hybrid and electric trucks in real-world traffic conditions.
The strip on the electric road E16 features a dedicated hybrid truck lane with a Siemens conductive system with overhead electrical wires, very much like the systems commonly used on mass-transit street cars, buses and trains today.
The beauty of the new technology, which is the result of several years of cooperation between the Swedish Government and the private sector, is that the trucks while driving on the electric highway are completely powered by electricity and produce zero emissions, at least not directly. The trucks switch back to diesel once they leave the stretch of highway. Siemens claims that using the electric highway doubles fuel efficiency over standard combustion engines. All the Scania trucks on the road are hybrid and Euro 6-certified, running on biofuel.
Scania said the E16 project is a key component in achieving Sweden’s ambition of an energy-efficient and fossil-free vehicle fleet by 2030
Scania said the E16 project is a key component in achieving Sweden’s ambition of an energy-efficient and fossil-free vehicle fleet by 2030. It can also help to strengthen Sweden’s competitiveness in the rapidly developing area of sustainable transport.
The truck receives electrical power from a pantograph power collector that is mounted on the frame behind its cab. The pantographs are in turn connected to overhead power lines that are above the right-hand lane of the road, and the trucks can freely connect to and disconnect from the overhead wires while in motion.
Electric Road E16 is being funded in part by the Swedish government, which has invested approximately $88 million, with an additional $50 million coming from private businesses and the Gävleborg regional authority in Sweden where the electric road is located.
The electric road is only one of several pioneering technologies that Scania is working on to help the spread of sustainable solutions within both urban and long-haul transport. The company is also developing technologies for alternative fuels, hybridized and fully-electric vehicles, and autonomously and wirelessly-connected transport in parallel with its work to further enhance and refine the products of the future.
The eHighway is part of a two-year trial in Sweden, started June 2017, and Siemens is also building a trial eHighway in California in partnership with Volvo.
Electric Highway in Sweden, written by Tor Kjolberg
The London-based journalist and writer Christopher Beanland, has written a breathtaking monster of a book, Concrete Concept, in which he profiles 50 architectonic brutalist beasts around the world. One of them is the Government Quarter in Oslo, Norway.
Norway, Oslo; Government Quarter, 1980s. Photo: Viksjø, Erling
No modern architectural movement has aroused so much awe and so much ire as Brutalism. In his book “Concrete Concept”, Christopher Beanland has profiled 50 brutalist beasts around the world (built between the 1950s to 1970s). He demonstrates how Brutalism infected popular culture. This is architecture at its most assertive: compelling, distinctive, sometimes terrifying. But, as Concrete Concept shows, Brutalism can be about love as well as hate.
Concrete Concept is a well-illustrated compendium of fifty Brutalist landmarks on six continents, and its oversized thickness makes it almost brutal in itself, not a classically seductive coffee table book.
High-rise building in Government Quarter, Oslo
The Swedish architect Hans Asplund coined the term nybrutalism in 1949, and four years later it was used for the first time in the British journal Architectural Design. Concept Concrete looks at Brutalism, a movement which peaked in the 1960s with a visual language that has become inextricably associated with the post-war welfare state it developed from.
Concrete Concept, book-cover
The book reads Brutalism as if it has the peaceful allure of jutting stones in a sand garden – an abstract Zen mentality in a practical social setting.
The low-rise building (the Y-block) in Oslo Government Quarter
“A witty, high-adrenalin, concrete-fueled mega-tour of some of the world’s unfairly maligned ‘monstrosities. Concrete Concept is a gutsy, bombastic lobe song,” wrote Catherine Croft in Twentieth Century Society about Concept Concrete.
Picasso’s facade decorations
The Government Quarter, Oslo (Regjeringskvartalet)
The Norwegian architect Erling Viksjø designed the looming high-rise government building in 1958, adding the low-rise, Y-shaped block in 1969. The speckled, rough exterior is particularly memorable because of Picasso’s concrete blast murals that adorn the facade with fractured sea-side scenes, as well as the vivid icons crafted by Norwegian artists that chequer up the side of the high-rise.
Picasso’s drawings
A major architectural debate flared up in Norway following attempts to heal the wounds of the July 2011 attacks on Oslo and Utoya Island. Part of the attacks took place in downtown Oslo as a car bomb was detonated in front of the building housing the Prime Minister’s office in the Government Quarter, killing eight people and damaging surrounding Brutalist buildings by Erling Viksjø.
A Norwegian Architectural Masterpiece that Changed the Face of Brutalism,written by Tor Kjolberg
Famous as the home of the medieval Vikings, this northern nation is also known for its majestic fjords, mountains, charming towns, and diverse wildlife. Norway’s formal name is Kongeriket Norge, or the Kingdom of Norway. Norwegian, the spoken language of Norway, has two official written forms, Bokmål (book) Norwegian and Nynorsk (new) Norwegian.
Sognefjord, Norway
Facts about Norway
• Total area: 385,178 sq. km
• Population: 5,214,900
• Capital city: Oslo
• Currency: Norwegian krone
• Highest elevation: Galdhopiggen 8,100 ft. (2,469 m)
• Lowest elevation: Sea level
• Agriculture: Barley, wheat, potatoes, beef, veal, milk, fish
• Industries: Petroleum and gas, shipping, fishing, aquaculture, food processing, shipbuilding, pulp and paper products, metals, chemicals, timber, mining, textiles
Did you know?
Norway has one active volcano. Located on Jan Mayen, an island in the Norwegian Sea, Beerenberg is 7,306 feet (2,227 m) high.
Jan Mayn
Ancient rock carvings show that Norwegians have been using skis for at least 4,000 years.
Red-Eye Man, 4000 years old
Norway is the world’s largest exporter of salmon and second largest exporter of seafood.
Norwegian salmon
Norway is one of the world’s major exporters of petroleum, but it also has some of the highest gasoline prices in the world. High gas taxes are intended to encourage people to use public transportation instead of their cars.
Gasoline in Norway
Edvard Munch was a Norwegian painter and printmaker, famous for his painting The Scream (1893).
The Scream, by Edvard Munch
Norway is home to many Arctic animals, such as reindeer, wolverines, polar bears, puffins and the Arctic fox.
Scandinavian design is elegant, light, sparse, shows respect for natural materials, and is made with superb craftsmanship.
Say “Scandinavian design” and most people visualize furniture, textiles, glass and domestic ware with pure forms and simple, clean lines. The aesthetic is immediately recognizable, in both Nordic architecture and objects, especially since the Swedish home furnishing giant IKEA invaded the world.
Arne Jaconsen, Egg chair
Scandinavian architecture and design have their roots in traditional crafts, but are very much a product of the 20th century and the age of Functionalism. Taking off in the 1920s, led by architects and artists such as Le Corbusier in France and Walter Gropius in Germany, Functionalism applies to carious movements such as International Style and Bauhaus. In Scandinavia it has been a source of inspiration since the 1930s.
Art Hotel, Helsinki
The move away from ornamentation in favor of clean shapes and lines, allowing for the pure expression of the essence of structures, was more than a mere change in taste. Adherents to this style, which manifested itself in new materials (tubular metal, steel and glass), which also embraced a vision for a new world, one where architecture and design could contribute to the leveling out of injustices in modern society. In Scandinavia, both the aesthetics and the social agenda of the modern, international style, were eagerly adopted.
Carl and Karin Lasson, revived an interest in traditional Swedish crafts and craftsmanship. Their home, Sundborn, is now a museum
Earlier in the 1900s, Carl and Karin Lasson, taking their cue from the English Arts and Crafts movement, revived an interest in traditional Swedish crafts and craftsmanship. Their home at Sundborn, now a museum of Swedish country style, features textiles with simple checked and striped patterns, against a background of sparse wall designs, wooden floors, striped rag runners and furniture brightened with uncomplicated embellishments.
Interior cockpit Volvo S90
Art Nouveau was an important inspiration. In the hands of Danish designers in the mid-20th century, its fluid decorative lines became part of the quest for a satisfying form that fitted a function, as seen in the chairs of Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen from the 1940s and 1950s. Designers also began to heed ergonomic research at industrial companies like the car-makers Saab and Volvo.
Cross-chair by Fredrik A. Kayser
Today the adage “form follows function” is taken to a high science in Scandinavia. Aesthetics are fused with efficiency in everything from utensils to welding equipment. Numerous pieces from the early 20th century remain as popular as ever, for example, chairs by the Norwegian architect and designer Fredric A. Kayser.
Tripp-Trapp chairs, by Peter Opsvik
The success of Nordic design has made it a standard far beyond the boundaries of Norhern Europe. Smart Scandinavian design is found the world over. Time tested pieces, such as the Stokke Tripp Trapp chair (1972) by Norwegian Peter Opsvik, are still best-sellers.
The multitalented Stefan Lindfors burst onto the scene in the 1980s and since then has created everything from chairs and lamps, to prefabricated houses, saunas and sex toys! Much of his crockery and cutlery is sold by the Finnish company Arabia.
Kosta Boda Mirage Vase
Swedish glass manufacturers Kosta Boda and Orrefors produce lighting and homeware.
One of the best places to spot up and coming talent is Design House Stockholm, which acts as a “publishing house” for around 60 independent designers.
Enjoy your cocktails in Copenhagen. Danes might be famous for their beer, but Copenhageners enjoy a good cocktail too. The Danish capital has several cocktail bars with creative, passionate bartenders who know exactly how to mix, shake and stir that perfect drink.
Liedkoeb bar
Lidkoeb The owners of renowned cocktail haven Ruby on Gammel Strand are behind Lidkoed, which extends over three floors and a cozy courtyard.
Lidkoeb is housed in a listed and beautifully renovated building, located in a backyard on Vesterbrogade.
On the ground floor there is a long bar made of wood with plenty of seating at the windows, comfortable leather chairs and a fireplace with living fire.
Lidkoeb is filled with charming chesterfield furniture making the atmosphere cozy just like at Ruby.
On the floor above, a assembly room is situated with a small bar and a private smoking balcony. At the top, a cozy living room is arranged with a small fireplace and full-on focus be on whiskey.
Ruby Bar
Ruby
Cocktails to die for at Ruby’s. No money was ever spent on advertising here; there are no flashy signs, no eye-catching entrance, and yet, by word of mouth, this unique cocktail bar has become one of the most talked about venues in town – and rightly. In October 2015, Ruby was ranked 34 on the list of the world’s 50 best bars.
Despite its posh canal-side location and exclusive décor, Ruby has a relaxed, homey atmosphere, utterly devoid of pretention. The expert bartenders greet you when entering and subsequently serve up some of the most delicious cocktails in Copenhagen.
While the cocktails really are to die for, it is the atmosphere that sets this bar apart. Decorated like an apartment, you cannot help but feel at home here, and whether you’re 25 or 55 doesn’t really matter, as long as you enjoy quality drinks.
Featured press: NY Times, LA Post, Financial Times, Condé Nast and many others.
1105 Bar
1105 Cocktail tender Gromit has ascended to stardom on the Copenhagen cocktail scene, and deservedly so.
You’d be doing yourself a disservice by not coming by and checking out his magic potions. Try for example a Copenhagen cocktail, which is his own creation!
Inspired by exclusive London hotel bars, the décor is modern and stylish, yet imbued with a warmth that makes you feel instantly welcome.
You can get classic cocktails and modern shakes but no fancy, out-of-this-world concoctions. Old virtues are still maintained here, meaning skillfully crafted top-quality cocktails!
1105 is geared towards guest over 30. The owners are in their 30s and were determined to create a place where they would want to go to themselves.
Condé Nast Traveler’s included 1105 on their exclusive list of the trendiest, international bars and night clubs in 2010.
Duck and Cover Bar
Duck and Cover On a quiet side road to the busy main street Vesterbrogade in the hectic and fashionable Vesterbro in Copenhagen, you find this cocktail gem. Only a small sign on the facade gives away the location of the bar, but once inside, the place really makes a notice of itself.
The furniture is from the 1950’s and 60’ with a focus on Danish design from the era. Leather and wood are the predominant materials and the lighting is dimmed to set the mood of this relaxing and welcoming bar. On the cocktail side the bartenders pay respect to the change of seasons as the menu changes year round giving seasonal twists to the classic cocktails.
You can always have your favorite cocktail here any way you like it, but the very experienced bartenders – who are among the best in town – will most likely have an opinion on how to make a new and often better version. Especially their use of the locally produced Danish aquavit makes for cocktails that are absolutely delicious.
There is no doubt that the cocktails at Duck and Cover are among the best in Copenhagen, and for guests with an interest in Danish design this bar is piece of heaven.
Helium Bar
Helium Helium is an exclusive and experimental cocktail bar located in one of the most decadent streets of Copenhagen.
The entire atmosphere elevates you while seductive music, warm service, exquisite flavors and beautiful surroundings form the night.
Broennum Bar
Brønnum Picture a bar on the most stunning location in Copenhagen: That’s exactly where the entrepreneurial couple, Rasmus and Adeline Shepard-Lomborg have decided to anchor their third high-end cocktail bar adventure!
The couple has previously established both Ruby and Lidkoeb as some of the most acclaimed cocktail bars in Copenhagen (See above). Their latest venture is called “Brønnum” and can be found right by the historic Kgs. Nytorv next to the Royal Theater and across from one of the most iconic hotels of Copenhagen – D’Angleterre. With its baroque stone carved facade, Bronnum blends perfectly in.
Entering Brønnum you are welcomed by the main bar which is decorated by beautiful original wood carvings imported from an antique pharmacy in Sevilla. It oozes history and panache, and you wish you could hear the unique stories it would unfold over an Old fashioned.
Curfew Bar
Curfew Curfew is a luxurious bar driven by passion and experience. Humberto Saraviva Marques is the proud owner. He has earlier shared his impressive knowledge about cocktails to magazines and websites. After having worked at four- and five-star hotels around the world and four years as a bartender at 1105, Humberto has opened his own cocktail bar.
Curfew can host 100 guests who can sit at the bar or chill out in one of the green sofas and enjoy a delicious cocktail. Some of the cocktails are made with Humberto’s own liqueur, bitter, or syrup.
You do not need to worry about dinner when you are at Curfew. With help from Karlos Maldonade, one of the co-owners at the critically acclaimed restaurant Taller, Curfew has tapas on the menu as well.
Stroem Bar
Strøm Bar The cocktail bar Strøm Bar by Gråbrødre Torv square in central Copenhagen is reaping increasing recognition in the international bartending world. Here, you get so-called gourmet cocktails, where all the ingredients are homemade.
You will find one of the city’s best cocktail bars, Strøm Bar, in Niels Hemmingsensgade street in the heart of Copenhagen. The bar opened in 2012, and the team behind it has won a lot of international awards and nominations.
In 2013, Strøm Bar was nominated for the list The World’s 50 Best Bars along with the three other Copenhagen cocktail bars Ruby, Salon 39 and The Barking Dog.
The team behind Strøm Bar is not exactly novices in the cocktail industry either. The two Swedish brothers Michael and Andreas Nilsson both have international experience, including from the world-renowned Milk & Honey in London and as bar managers at Salon 39, K-Bar and Brass Monkey in Copenhagen.
In 2012, they took the plunge and opened Strøm Bar, where their creativity is fully developed, together with Danish Simon Haugaard. Simon is the man behind the Copenhagen bars Zefside and Kassen.
“Strøm” means power in Danish, and the bar gets its name from the fact that the bar is powered by a European Art Deco influence. Art Deco is often associated with luxury, style and function. It was especially popular among the 1920s and 1930s intellectual upper class in Europe.
However, Strøm Bar is quite cozy and relaxed. The cocktail bar consists of two rooms and can house about 100 guests. In the one room you will find the bar, and in the other room you can relax in the booths, each with room for about nine people. Here, the lights are dimmed.
Strøm Bar offers a variety of cocktails, including a frozen cocktail in a bottle. The cocktail menu changes around every three months. All cocktails and ingredients are homemade, like for an example the grenadine. Thus the team behind the cocktail bar calls their cocktails for gourmet cocktails.
Geoff at Balderdash Bar
Balderdash Balderdash is a center for cocktails, beer, spirits lab, pop up restaurants, and a gallery.
Geoffrey Canilao does not want to categorize his bar. It is therefore difficult to define the concept of Balderdash. Geoffrey wants that you, as a guest, define the concept that suits your visit at the bar.
Geoffrey is a reputable bartender in the cocktail environment. Since he came to Copenhagen to follow his love, he has inter alia been head bartender at Union. Finally, it is time for him to open his own place. The settings are a house from 1732 with a secret door that leads to a smaller assembly room.
The other floors of the house will be used for a little of everything. At the ground floor at the left opens a gallery. At the first floor above the bar, Geoffrey opens his own spirits lab. Next to the lab is versatile kitchen. The Kitchen is for different pop up restaurants. When someone is cooking in the kitchen for a pop up event, the bar’s guests can look forward to a treat.
Gilt Bar
Gilt Gilt is a classic cocktail bar in the Nørrebro area of Copenhagen. GILT served cocktails, before the Danish capital even knew what a cocktail was, and the bar is still among the best in the city, with a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere.
You will find GILT – short for Glass, Ice, Liqueur and Topping – in Rantzausgade street in the Nørrebro neighbourhood of Copenhagen.
It has been here for over a decade, since the piña colada and strawberry daiquiri were hot news. Today, GILT has returned to its starting point and is now serving honest and stylish cocktails of high quality, with an individual, often Nordic, twist.
The man behind GILT, Peter Altenburg, has more than 20 years of experience, and many people believe that he and GILT can take a lot of credit for Copenhagen’s international recognition and the fact that the city has a cocktail scene today.
The cocktail bar’s interior decoration consists of dark colors, dim lights and jazz music on the stereo. There is a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere, where the guest is in focus and always welcome to make requests and order outside the cocktail menu, which offers about 15 cocktails, which vary according to season.
But do not be mistaken. The bartenders are excellent, when it comes to cocktails and liquors. And they are ready to advice you if needed.
Peter Altenburg has a love of Nordic food and thus Nordic ingredients. Therefore, you will often find cocktails with rhubarb, elderflower, salt and buckthorn, but also more classic ones with coffee and chocolate flavors.
K Bar
K Bar
K is for owner Kirsten Holm, drinks maven extraordinaire, although the bar might just have been named M given that she and her staff are undoubted masters of the martini. They offer more than a dozen versions including a sensational Lychee Martini for the sweet tooth and a classic dry gin with olives that would impress a New York power broker. While the space is cozy and intimate, the regulars can be a little uptight, given that they think they own it, but they warm up as the drink starts flowing and you begin to count your blessings that you’ve found such a stylish and inviting gem.
Salon 39
Salon 39 Salon 39 is a different kind of cocktail bar located in the district of Frederiksberg. The classy cocktail bar near the lakes combines the sleek old-time-y charm of the classic cocktail bar with a tempting dinner menu in an intimate setting.
You can try cocktails you will not find any other place, as well as the classics. The bartenders and staff here really know how to mix the liquor to perfection and how to treat all guests with smiles and true hospitality. Oh, and the chef here makes one of the best burgers in town.
The ambience in the dimly lit Salon 39 is cool, relaxed and perfect for a romantic date as well as a night out on the town. The music is mostly jazz, soul and blues to complete the experience.
The Barking Dog Bar
The Barking Dog The Barking Dog is a cocktail bar in Nørrebro in Copenhagen, located in the narrow street between Sankt Hans Torv and the Lakes.
The Barking Dog reminds of a pub in London with the bar, the covers on the walls and the nice and relaxing atmosphere.
The bar wants to attract a more adult audience, so there is background music and room for a talk without any loud music disturbing your conversation.
The Barking Dog wants to make sure that people do not wait too long for their drink so most drinks are pre-mixed and served from a large barrel.
Holmens Kanal Cocktail Bar
Holmens Kanal Cocktail Bar Holmens Kanal is the name of Copenhagen’s new cocktail bar and offers colorful and special drinks en masse.
The cocktail bar is located close to Kongens Nytorv and the Royal Theatre. From the outside, the location can appear a bit dull, but behind the doors lies a large bar with room for fun and games.
At Holmens Kanal you can sit by the extravagant marble bar, or you can relax and hang out at the tall tables in the middle of the room. Are you into a more intimate atmosphere, you can take a seat at one of the booths in the bar. In total, Holmens Kanal caters for 150 thirsty people.
Holmens Kanal is characterized by balanced lighting and music that does not overpower your conversation. The cocktail bar is an ideal venue if you are meeting up with a friend, a colleague or a date.
Salotto42 Bar
Salotto42 An Italian living room-cum-decadent-cocktail bar oozing with ambience in central Copenhagen’s hip, fashionablePilestræde.
Salotto42 is not your average cocktail bar. Carrying on the traditions of their native Italy, the owners invite their guests to hang out and enjoy a cocktail and homemade bar snacks any day of the week any time of the day. Because where they are from, it doesn’t have to be Friday or Saturday night for you to indulge in a premium, artisanal cocktail, wine or an aperitivo in a comfy leather sofa. Life should be enjoyed daily, and that’s exactly what you can do at Salotto42.
But what really makes this “livingroom” (“Salotto”) special, is the all-in-one creative space you find inside the corner building. In this multipurpose bar they’ve made room for three barber chairs, a clothing corner, a shop-in-shop with fashion and lifestyle magazines and books.
From 17:00 each cocktail comes with a small appetizer in the form of Italian style finger food. Besides, they serve breakfast, easy-lunch, tea.
