Story: Copenhagen's got a plan

A good friend from college asked me to write an article for desi-nerds about Copenhagen, Denmark for their magazine. Sure, I thought. I spent five months there studying design and architecture. It would be fun to reminisce about it. I imagined building after building, thinking about a path that would take travelers to all the best Copenhagen has to offer. Considering I have a career in architecture and all the time spent in Denmark, why am I having such a hard time? Why can’t I come up with an architectural list worthy of the second oldest monarchy in the world? Eventually, I figured out all I was doing was making a list of buildings from my “An Architectural History of Denmark” class. I spent five months living there. So, instead of itemizing a list from a textbook, I will tell you that to truly understand Danish design you have to get out and experience it like a Dane does. To understand it you have to start at a much larger scale than a building or a city block and end up with something small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.
The first way to experience Copenhagen is to hop on the S-Tog and head out of the city to the surrounding towns and villages. The railways extend from the city center like a hand in the grass forming five densely populated fingers intertwined with more rural green space. Everyday, I would start my journey into the city by first biking from the house I lived in, winding my way between cow pastures and behind tightly packed hedge rows, into the small rural community of Solrød Strand. In the town’s center, I boarded the train that followed the shoreline as it curved up and around the bay of Køge first passing flat green farmland and eventually morphing into the city of Copenhagen.
I must tell you that a visit to Solrød Strand, or many of the surrounding villages, is probably not worth the limited time a visitor has in the region. But there are some wonderful places to visit if you are willing to make the trip. If you head south on the A or the E trains you will hit the town of Ishøj you will find Arken, a meuseum specializing in contemporary art and architecture. If North is where you want to wander, be sure to check out the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk. Even though it’s a ways away it is certainly worth the trip (the north ride is also much more scenic if that’s what you’re into). Whether north or south is your destination, you must understand that much of the railroad was built decades ago, before many of the small towns like I lived in existed. The Danish government had confidence that if they built these rail lines people would flock to this existing public transportation. A huge amount of faith that went into Copenhagen’s “if you build it, they will come” regional planning.
Once you arrive at the central train terminal, Købehavn H, put on your comfy shoes because this is a city made for walking and biking, not taking taxis. Be sure to stroll down Vesterbrogade passing by the 165 year old amusement park Tivoli, This older more classy version of the American thrill center offers a wonderful little restaurant called Groften which you can get delicious traditional Danish food with Aquavit to wash it down. After Tivoli, you will arrive at Copenhagen’s central city square, Radhuspladsen. Coming to this intersection of Vesterbrogade and H.C. Anderson Boulevard always impressed me. It was a place to observe the impact of the Danes five finger regional plan at a more pedestrian scale. During peak periods of the day, one side of the square has a bike jam lined up deeper than the cars with everyone on their way to work. The other side of the square has one small street packed with vacationers and pedestrians window shopping and perusing the stores of Strøget. Even though Copenhagen is called one of the most bike friendly cities in the world and Strøget has removed all automobile traffic except for deliveries early in the morning, it has not always been this way. It took almost as much time to remove the majority of cars from downtown as it took the regional train system to develop. Since the sixties, when cars were beginning to take over Copenhagen’s city center, the Danish government meticulously turned a few parking lots each year back into their original purpose, city squares and plazas. The gradual elimination of parking spaces pushed down supply thus raising the price to park in the city. As the price of driving rose so too did the popularity of the train system. Becoming more desirable, people flocked to the public transportation system easing congestion and making Copenhagen much more pleasant and bike and pedestrian friendly.
By this time you will probably be tired of all this urban planning discussion and be happy to know that you are within a few blocks of one of Denmark’s modern master’s masterpieces, the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel. When you visit you will notice that much of the building has changed from Arne Jacobsen’s original mid-century design due to the need to remodel as it is still an operating hotel. However, you can take a step back in time and visit room 606 which remains exactly as it appeared when the hotel was first opened 50 years ago. The details are superb all the way down to the Swan and Egg chairs Jacobsen designed specifically for the hotel. It’s amazing to think that Jacobsen was also able to put attention to such mundane details as the flatware used in the hotel’s restaurant.
I never really noticed when I did it, but my trek from my host family’s house in Solrød Strand to school in the heart of Copenhagen was a superb lesson in design from urban planning and architecture to industrial design. From the overreaching five finger urban plan to Arne Jacobsen’s endless attention to the smallest detail I learned that good design is not just about creating the next shiny gimmick to grace the pages of design magazines, but instead is the pursuit of creating environments that are so adept at making you feel at home that you don’t even realize it.

My top 10 places to visit in Copenhagen in no particular order:
1. the Danish Architecture Center has everything you need to know about cutting edge architecture in Copenhagen
2. “The Black Diamond” an addition to the Danish Royal Library by architects Schmidt, Hammer and Lassen, Architects
3. Be sure to check out the undulating ceiling of the Bagsværd Kirke (Church), by Jorn Utzon (Sidney Opera House)
4. Round Tower, get a wonderful view by walking up the circulating ramp to the top of one of the highest buildings in the area.
5. Depending on when you go, Jean Neauvel’s Copenhagen Concert Hall will be one not to miss in 2009.
6. Nyhavn, just hang out and eat by the channel
7. Kongin’s Nytorv
8. The Radhus in Radhuspladsen, notice the forked flag which is only found on government buildings. It is not available for purchase to the public, believe me I tried.
9. Danish National Bank by Arne Jacobsen, it is much more exciting inside if you are able to get in.
10. Carlsberg Brewery, Considering that Heiniken and Budweiser are the only beers to have higher distribution rates in the world due to their North American consumption this beer claims to be “Probably the Best Beer in the World:.” Joking aside this more than 150 year old brewery provides for a wonderful tour that would put St. Louis and Milwaukee to shame.

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