March, 2019
Creative and Colourful Copenhagen
What a remarkable city! Architecture, food, art, design, style, this place has it all…
Consecrated in 1696, the baroque Church of our Saviours has the most amazing spire, added in 1752, that has a 400 step staircase with the last 150 steps spiralling counterclockwise four times around the exterior. Why counterclockwise? The designer, Lauritz de Thurah copied Borromini's spiral lantern on Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza in Rome, which turns the same way.
On the staircase...not Adam's favourite part of the day.
We climbed the beautiful spire on its external winding staircase all the way to the top. The views from 90m up were amazing!
Inside the kaleidoscope art installation. Faroe Islands painter and glass artist Tróndur Pattersun created this street art installation called Cosmic Space, inspired by his experience on a sinking ship in the open sea surrounded by an infinity of dark sky and ocean.
I'm glad to have safe footing in this sinking ship inspired installation.
St Nicholas Church dates from the 1200s, but its iconic tower (the tallest church tower in the city) was built a few hundred years later in 1591. Less than 40 years later, a windy day brought down the spire (I guess building codes didn’t include wind protection) which wasn’t rebuilt for another 40 years.
This church continued to have a fraught existence, with the spire falling down again in the 1795 fire that ravaged Copenhagen, leaving the church in ruins. The spire was lost and there was no money to rebuild the church so it was torn down with only the tower remaining. The tower had a few rebirths; as a fire watchman’s tower (ironically), as the definitive city clock where a ball dropped at 1pm every day, and was finally rebuilt with its original spire that had been lost after the big fire. The surrounding building was rebuilt but never returned to its church beginnings and after serving as a naval museum and the main public library, it is now Copenhagen’s exhibition centre. Nice that 800 years later, after surviving the slings and arrows of time and weather, the tower remains as a functional part of the city.
A beautiful example of a 19th century Historicism building in the Dutch Renaissance style. This period embraced old styles from Denmark's glory days, now that it had lost Norway in 1814 and a third of its territory in its war with Prussia in 1864. This one was designed by Phillip Smith and built in 1902-1905 and as a civic building, it got dressed up in a renaissance style, while churches were typically done up in a gothic style and theatres got the baroque end of the stick.
French artist Nathalie du Pasquier was a founding member of the Memphis Group, the 1980s Italian design group that broke through the ceiling of polite modernist design with clashing colours and wild patterns. She left the group in the late 80s to paint full-time and here she is, 40 years later, painting a mural on the wall of the Hay House flagship design store.
Amagertorv is one of Copenhagen's oldest squares and packs in a lot of Copenhagen's eras all in one place! The square itself dates back to the Middle Ages where famers came to sell their produce.
The large 1896 Art Nouveau building on the left is the home of the design store, Hay House where Nathalie du Pasquier's mural is. And the brick tower next to that is spire of Helligåndskirken, the Church of the Holy Ghost, founded as a Franciscan monastery in the 1200s and turned into a Lutheran church in 1537.
Fast forward a few hundred years to 1894 and the Stork Fountain, a gift to mark the silver wedding anniversary of Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Louise. Featuring storks was a nod to the stork as a symbol of fidelity since they mate for life. The other symbolism around storks is of course, as purveyor of babies. This was not lost on future generations; starting in 1950, newly graduated midwives come here to dance around the fountain.
Nyhavn. Perhaps one of the most beautiful half kilometres of canal waterfront anywhere! Lined with stunning 17th and 18th century townhouses sitting atop a multitude of shockingly expensive restaurants and bars, facing beautiful, historical wooden ships. It's a beautiful city but wow, is it expensive!
And the ubiquitous bridge with love locks.
Our very own Karate Kid.
This is Olafur Eliasson's Cirkelbroen. Opened in 2015, The Circle Bridge's five overlapping circular platforms span Christianshavn Canal and swing apart to let large boats through. The masts in each circle are a nod to the maritime history of this amazing city and the zigzag nature of the series of circles is meant to have us slow down on the walk across.
Popular snack. What could be better than a waffle on a stick covered in warm Nutella and Oreo cookie crumbles?
Superkilen Park in Nørrebro is a long narrow park that runs along an old railway line. Creativity abounds in this space where between 2009 and 2012, a section of it was redesigned by architecture firm BIG, with Danish art group Superflex and German landscape architects Topotek1 as a collage of the neighbourhood's 60 nationalities. Locals were asked what objects felt like home to them and then these ideas were incorporated into the design and the 750m stretch was divided into three sections: Black, red and green.
This section is called Black Market, with white lines painted over the asphalt, curving around furniture, climbing up little hills and wrapping around trees.
A bit more play the red and black sections...The swings in the Red Square are are from Iraq, the Black Market has this Japanese octopus with tentacles as slides and climbing structures. Anyone for a game of chess, or perhaps Nine Men's Morris (Mølle in Danish). This was a new one for me. Nine Men's Morris is an ancient Danish strategy game where each player places their nine pieces on the board's intersections and slides them along the lines until they line up three in a row and can remove an opponent's piece. Loser is the one who is down to two pieces or can't move.
Play continues on the trampoline sidewalk, just outside our hotel.
So much fun riding electric scooters around!
This steep, 20m tall spiral tube slide is attached to a school so it's only open on weekdays. I can't imagine the average child sliding down this dark tunnel!
In front of the Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Parliament and Danish Supreme Court. The fellow on the horse is King Frederik VII who ended absolute monarchy in 1849 web he signed Denmark's first democratic constitution. The beautiful granite balls in front of the palace are a classic Danish solution to a security threat: a barrier to prevent vehicle attacks so beautiful that nobody notices what it's really for.
The monarchy remains but it is a constitutional monarchy like in England; the monarchy reigns but doesn't rule. They use parts of the palace for receptions but they don’t live there.
The royal kitchen. More copper pots, and giant ones at that, than I ever imagined in one place. Not much real cooking for receptions happens here. Most is done sous vide in the kitchen where the monarch actually lives and then transported here to be reheated, plated and served.
They gave us shoe covers to walk around the reception rooms. I guess this helps them stay on top of the floor sweeping.
Thrones!
Not sure she's going to keep the riffraff out...
So many cyclists in Copenhagen. Apparently there are more bicycles than cars here, with dedicated bike lanes everywhere.
...and a pedestrian crosswalk for the bike lane.
Even stroller parking!
The Design Museum was fantastic.
An homage to the ever-present bike.
Somewhat impractical bed design.
See through baby grand piano.
Colouring station in the museum.
Another big chair for two to curl up in.