From Gothic to Classicism
To discover the brick Gothic style typical of northern cities, you'll have to go to Roskilde (25 min from Copenhagen). There, you'll visit its impressive cathedral, also a royal necropolis, built in the 12th and 13th centuries. Its two gigantic towers with sky-darting spires, crenellations and play of colors - between the powerful red of the brick and the verdigris of the roof - make it a medieval masterpiece (even if it was subsequently altered many times). From the 16th century onwards, and particularly during the 17th century, Copenhagen underwent its most important transformations under the impetus of Christian IV, the great builder-king. His royal residence of Rosenborg, identifiable by its red brick, sandstone decorations, scrolled gables and harmonious proportions, is a masterpiece of the so-called Dutch Renaissance. Just like Frederiksborg Castle, later dubbed the "Danish Versailles"! Christian IV was also responsible for the development of the Christianshavn district, with its numerous bastions and citadel. The king favored the Baroque style to further expand the city. The Church of Our Saviour in Christianshavn, with its spiral spire around which an astonishing spiral staircase revolves, is a fine example. A seductive architecture that awakens the senses through theatrical effects of light and trompe-l'œil, Baroque is expressed magnificently in Copenhagen. Note the spire of the city's Stock Exchange, or the astonishing Round Tower with its famous ramp winding seven times around its central core. The end of the 17th century saw the birth of the Nyhavn district, with its legendary wooden and brick houses, the oldest of which dates back to 1661. The following century saw the birth of the Friedriksstaden district, an astonishing ensemble at the center of which sits the Amalienborg Palace. From the Baroque, it borrows the importance of large squares where power takes center stage; from the Rococo, the interiors are overloaded with ornamentation and exuberant decoration. These contrast with the sober, rigorous exterior facades, symbols of classical ideals. Like the Marble Church, inspired by the model of St. Peter's in Rome. Its dome dominates this district of wide, wide avenues, lined with equally classical bourgeois houses and mansions.
Neoclassicism and national romanticism
In the 19th century, the use of classical codes multiplied. With the city having suffered so much destruction, sober forms were revived. Among the finest examples of Neoclassicism are the Palace of Justice by architect Hansen, with its colonnaded facade emphasizing the building's massive, imposing dimensions; Notre-Dame Cathedral, with its six Doric columns set on a podium; and the Thorvaldsen Museum, directly inspired by Greco-Roman temples. Then, after so much turmoil, the city, seeking to redefine its identity, turned to the blending of styles and historicist idealization of "National Romanticism". The Museum of Fine Arts is inspired by the Italian Renaissance.Copenhagen City Hall, designed by Martin Nyrop, blends Gothic defensive elements with harmonious Renaissance proportions, in a superb brick-red polychrome. The historicist craze continued into the early 20th century, as exemplified by the beautiful Central Station, which blends nascent industrial architecture - with its exposed metal structures - with medieval forms in the purest neo-Gothic style. While Art Nouveau is emerging throughout Europe, Copenhagen still retains its old-fashioned hues, notably at the Palace Hotel designed by Anton Rosen. Here, the red brick of the Gothic-style building highlights the taste for interlacing ironwork on the balconies. The same dialogue between tradition and new forms can be found in Grundtvig's astonishing church, which combines resolutely Gothic features - verticality, crenellations, three naves - with expressionist architecture playing on the distortion of forms and a very rough, almost mineral general appearance. A superb transition to modernity.
Triumph of modernity
The greatest Danish figure of modernism is without doubt the architect Arne Jacobsen. In the Klampenborg district, he designed the Bellavista building in the early 1930s. In 1954, he designed the Rødovre Town Hall (just a few minutes from the capital) and in 1958, the SAS Royal Hotel. All three are superb examples of the Jacobsen style, which combines simple, elegant, functional forms with natural, comfortable materials. An architect as well as a designer, he imagined total works of art in which structure and furniture form an organic, unified whole. Sobriety, precision, classical rigor and modernity of form characterize Danish rational and functional modernism. This period was also accompanied by new urban planning ideas, including the famous Fingerplan: a city development project in the shape of a hand with spread fingers. In effect, each one prefigures one of the five major arteries served by public transport, creating green spaces between them. Although the initial plan was rather positive, its realization was not without controversy, as demolitions multiplied and new infrastructures somewhat distorted the old heart. The architecture of the time made extensive use of concrete, notably in international-style modular structures that were singularly lacking in soul. It wasn't until the 1970s and 1980s that a shift towards more humane urban planning began to take place, notably advocated by town planner Jan Gehl, who imagined an attractive urban landscape that would give pride of place to pedestrians. It was he who redesigned Strøget, the city's main shopping street. Copenhagen gradually became aware of its rich industrial heritage and the need to rehabilitate it. Many large factories have been converted into housing complexes, such as Carlsberg Silo or Torpedohallen.
Contemporary Perspectives
Launched in the 1990s, the Ørestad project came into its own in the 2000s, becoming one of the most architecturally dynamic districts in the city. Here, you can discover VM Mountain, designed by Danish architectural star Bjarke Ingels. Inaugurated in 2008, this astonishing cubic edifice with its beautiful glass walls was awarded the prize for Best Residential Complex at the International Festival of Architecture. The architect also designed the 8 Tallet, also known as the Big House, an unusual 8-shaped structure juxtaposing residential spaces like Lego bricks in a complex designed to encourage sharing and social mixing. Also in Ørestad, don't miss the university and its Tietgen Residence Hall, a circular wooden structure designed to develop creativity and a sense of community.
Once outside this futuristic district, dozens more contemporary treasures await you. Discover the mysterious Black Diamond, a contemporary wing of the Royal Danish Library with a cubic shape entirely covered in black marble slabs and smoked glass. Lose yourself in the aisles of Daniel Liebeskind's incredible Jewish Museum of Denmark. Built on a wooden floor, the museum was designed following the spelling of the word "mitzvah", hence its slightly sloping floor plans... amazing! Enjoy theOpera House, a magnificent edifice of reinforced concrete, glass, steel and marble, designed by Danish architect Henning Larsen, with a roof that juts out over the sea and a futuristic grid facade... which raised a few eyebrows in its day! Immerse yourself in the history of Danish heritage at the Centre for Danish Architecture, housed in the Blox... a blend of block and box, the name referring to the building's cut-out silhouette, with spaces stacked like boxes. The verdigris tint of the large glass walls matches the color of the harbor waters, as well as the copper roofs of the city.
This is contemporary architecture in Copenhagen: resolutely modern structures, sometimes disconcerting, often surprising, but always perfectly integrated into the environment. Other must-see creations include the Blue Planet, Europe's largest aquarium, with its wave-like silhouette that seems to roll endlessly; the Arken Museum, with its silhouette reminiscent of a ship emerging from the waves; and the Bella Sky Hotel, with its twisted white façade and two towers linked by a slender footbridge. Contemporary architecture even invites itself to the zoo, where the great Norman Foster has created the Elephant House, a superb aerial and luminous structure. Today, Copenhagen has set itself a major challenge: to become the world's first carbon-neutral city by 2025. It is thus multiplying projects for green spaces, soft mobility with kilometers of bicycle paths - including the now legendary "bicycle snake" that criss-crosses the city - renewable energies with wind farms, optimized urban lighting and intelligent street furniture. The goal: proximity, sustainability and quality of life. Copenhagen never ceases to surprise!
