Danish Architecture Center

After hearing about the Copenhagen in Common exhibit at the Danish Architecture Center, I was really excited to check it out for myself, so I rode the short ride over to the museum on some nice grade separated bike lanes to hopefully learn how those along with other infrastructure and architecture has developed in Denmark. 

So Danish Exhibit

Through I was mainly there for the Copenhagen in Common Exhibit, I really enjoyed this exhibit that provided me with a background on Danish architecture, and even some planning.

The Five Finger Plan

The thing I found most intriguing about this exhibit was the Five Finger Plan. The plan for the city's spread was that each of the fingers would correspond to a line on the S-train and the areas between the fingers would be to preserve nature, while the areas of the fingers would be for development. This plan is interesting because nature is a priority, but there is still area to develop, and it serves as an urban growth boundary to prevent sprawl.

The architecture history section of the So Danish exhibit

I also really enjoyed getting to learn more about architecture and see all of the models. I never knew that a Danish architect was responsible for creating the Sydney Opera House, and I learned a lot of other cool fun facts about architecture from this exhibit.

Common in Copenhagen Exhibit

This exhibit was really interesting and helped me to see the planning history of Copenhagen, especially their history of converting streets to be for people on bikes.

Environment

Signs from the environmental protest

There has been a debate and protests about one of the last uncultivated natural areas in Copenhagen, Amager Faelled, where some people want to develop the land for the growing population and some want to preserve the natural area. It has been used as a waste area from construction, but it has also been a habitat for some rare animal species. Despite that, Copenhagen does a lot and has done a lot to provide areas for animals within the city with big green spaces, whether that is rooftop gardens or greenways that prevent habitat fragmentation. 

Re-use and Usage of Space

A lot of new housing developments in Copenhagen re-use old industrial buildings or shipping containers to make space for people. Additionally, these housing developments use space creatively by including play places for children, rooftop gardens, green walls, and courtyard common areas for the residents. Almost every building in the city center is mixed use; for example, in the building of the museum, the upper floors were a gym and an office building. Something I'm still always so surprised about in the city is the creative uses of all space to provide solutions for housing issues. Many social housing developments are transformed in a way that re-uses materials and develops the space so that it's safe and connected, but is also sustainable, providing housing for people who need it while also doing their part to prevent sprawl.

Cycling

A board from the cycling part of the exhibit

Copenhagen was not always a cycling city, and it was planned for cars in the 1950s/60s just like America. In the 1970s, people began protesting because days that were designated as car-free days during the gasoline shortage turned out to be some of the best days. After this, the city transformed itself into a better cycling city with infrastructure such as elevated cycle paths, bridges, and paths through nature, and changed the planning of its streets to prioritize cars less. This has brought it to its position as one of the greatest cycling cities of the world.

A part of the exhibit where you could ride a bike to transform a car-centric city street into a street for people

My main takeaway from this exhibit is that we can do this too in America. Our cities are car-centric now, just like Copenhagen was, but we too can begin to plan for bikes and public transportation and make them more liveable for the people there, instead of easier for cars. Many people like to argue that we can't do this because "America isn't Copenhagen" or "America isn't the Netherlands," but many of the cities here in Europe were in a very similar position that we are in now. Sure, it might not look exactly the same, but we can certainly reconstruct our cities to provide more value to the people living there and to be more sustainable.

Learning More About Parks

One of the playgrounds in Superkilen from the exhibit

At the museum, I learned that two of the playgrounds (the ones I called the red playground and the black and white playground are actually both part of a large park called Superkilen (the Super Wedge), which uses art as a tribute to the diverse area to attempt to reinvent a social housing area with a bad reputation. These parks both have communities nominate objects from their home country, and have artists retrieve and install them in different areas. This is a unique way to involve the people that live there, so that they can take their kids to play places that are meaningful to them and help them learn more about their culture and other cultures.

Overall, the Danish Architecture Center answered a lot of lingering questions I had about the history of bike infrastructure in Copenhagen, as well as others about housing here, how many people feel safe enough to bring their kids here, etc., so it was super interesting. In addition to the museum being incredibly interactive with slides you could go down and bikes you could pedal, I also loved the main architecture exhibit and learning so much about Danish architecture's development, what famous buildings were actually created by Danish architects, and how they are using architecture to mitigate the effects of climate change.

- Lauren