Highlights of Copenhagen Mid Century Modern Architecture

Highlights of Copenhagen Mid Century Modern Architecture

Copenhagen is about much more than castles and grand old palaces. The city is also home to remarkable architectural masterpieces from a new era - many of them now around 80 years old. These buildings are highlights of the golden age of Functionalism, when form, function and modern living came together in striking new ways.

In a relatively small area around Copenhagen's lakes, many of Denmark's most celebrated architects created unique landmarks that are still well worth discovering today. Different in expression and materials, but well thought out as a whole, where furniture and even door handles were thought through. That was the Danish functionalism in its thinking. The houses and furniture are still in our everyday lives.

Vilhelm Lauritzen designed the radio house (1945) in clinker and stone lined with dark wood. On Åboulevarden, Kåre Klint squeezed in the Bethlehem Church (1938) here the motif was Gothic with brick vaults. Around the lakes, Kay Fisker and C. F. Møller built large apartment blocks in cheerful Danish red stone - the finest example is the large castle-like Vestersøhus (1939). In the street further away, Arne Jacobsen began his experiments with Curtain Wall - glass facades with hidden supporting column structures. First we see the office building for A. Jespersen and Son (1955) and a little further on is Arne Jacobsen's famous SAS Hotel.