 airport may be intrigued – or even alarmed – by what appears to be a swirling vortex on Amager Island){kind=link}
Visitors glancing out of the plane window near Copenhagen (Kastrup) airport may be intrigued – or even alarmed – by what appears to be a swirling vortex on Amager Island.
The spiraling landmark is actually one of many surprising buildings springing up around Copenhagen. On its completion in 2013, it became the home of Scandinavia’s biggest aquarium, The Blue Planet. The aquarium has water on all side and is intended to give the visitors a feeling of being under water. The building has five “arms” from its center so that guests can choose their own way around to see exotic animals.
Exciting architecture on Copenhagen’s Amager Island
For years, Amager was quiet hinterland, created by some judicious damming and a mass of Copenhagen landfill. Today, it’s the scene for some of Denmark’s most exciting architecture.
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A whole ‘downtown’ area, Ørestad, is being created from scratch here; a shining new metro station brings shoppers to one of Denmark’s largest malls, and to the beautiful DR Koncerthuset, a part of the DR Byen (DR Town),home of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. The concert complex consists if four halls with the main auditorium seating 1,800 people, in which you can enjoy listening to the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. The venue was officially opened in 2009.
An attractive waste-to-energy-plant on Copenhagen’s Amager Island
The new waste-to-energy plant Copenhill/Amager Bakke opened last year, and it features a rooftop ski slope. The power plant is not only one of Europe’s most energy-efficient, environmentally friendly and highest capacity waste-to-energy plants, but also the most visually attractive and publicly acceptable, according to builder Babcock & Wilcox Vølund (See feature image, on top).
Nearby, the Øresund bridge uses the island as a launchpad to curve itself over to Swedish shores.
Islandsbrygge, on the west of Amager, has more to offer the casual visitor, with its wonderful Havneparken (Harbor Park). The water around Copenhagen is clean enough to swim in, and in the park, you’ll find the harbor baths – five outdoor pools full of happy, splashing people.
Even more luxury, Amager Strandpark is a beach development in the east, with over 4km (2 ½ miles) of beaches, an artificial island and a lagoon.
On Copenhagen’s Amager Island, written by Tor Kjolberg