THE BLACK DIAMOND (DEN KIND OF DIAMOND)

The extension to the Royal Library is one of the symbols of the city's renewal as it embraces architectural challenges. Designed by Danish architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen, the Black Diamond was completed in 1999. It is the first of a series of large-scale cultural buildings along the Copenhagen waterfront. It owes its nickname to its polished black granite facing! To get to its main entrance, there are two possibilities: arrive from the Nyhavn side, after the Knippel Bridge that goes to Christianshavn - or from the Fredericksholms Kanal side by water bus. The new building is connected to the old one by a series of walkways. Designed like an irregular box, it leans on one side and expands on its base! A technical feat for this imposing polygon cut in its middle by a vast atrium. The strong element remains the black color that changes according to the weather and the time of day. The ceiling of the passage between the old and the new library is signed by the artist Per Kirkeby.

The entrance hall is huge, with a bookshop, a café, a restaurant, exhibition rooms and escalators leading to the reading rooms. The cultural program is very varied: photo exhibitions, concerts, debates with authors... The Black Diamond houses a very rich collection: 2 and a half million books, tens of thousands of manuscripts, newspapers, portraits... It is the most important library in Scandinavia.