On One Hand They Came Quite Late to Industrialization
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Notes: Denmark: Tradition and Modernity on signifi cant in formulating the modern project in 1. This was not the fi rst modernist building in the interface between the 19th and 20th a Danish context. This was mainly due to the Scandinavia, as many believe. Edward Hei- century in Danish Architecture infl uence of two great Danish personalities: C. berg completed his own house in Denmark F. Hansen (1756-1845) and M.G. Bindesbøll in 1924. Peter Thule (1800-56). To use a term coined by Danish 2. Lars Backer published the article «Vor architect Kay Fisker (1893-1965) the formal holdningsløse arkitektur» [Our spineless principles of 20th century Danish architecture architecture] The Nordic countries are somewhat of a can be almost entirely described through the in the Norwegian journal Byggekunst in 1925. paradox: On one hand they came quite late to architecture of Bindesbøll and Hansen. In the One of its key points was, «We want to create industrialization; they are sparsely populated following I shall explain how the key principles th an architecture that’s in contact with con- and located on the periphery of Europe. Hence of 20 century Danish architecture may be temporary times, natural for the construction th -historically speaking- the Nordic countries traced back to the 19 century. materials we use.» Lars Backer mentioned can be considered provincial and fairly rural. Bindesbøll’s Legacy: The Crystalline Tessenow, Poelzig, Garnier and Le Corbusier Nor were they -with the possible exception of Cluster and the Danish House as his inspirational sources. th Sweden- part of the industrial avant garde with During the 20 century Danish architecture 3. Christian Norberg-Schulz (1926-2000), nations like Britain and Germany. On the other saw the construction of a range of projects Norwegian architectural historian and theo- hand the Nordic countries are characterized characterized by a combination of pitched retician of international importance. Among by a series of other conditions normally as- roofs and simple architectonic volumes. Fre- his books: Intentions in Architecture (1965), sociated with modernity. According to World quently built from yellow brick, these buildings Meaning in Western Architecture (1974), Value Studies the Nordic countries score have an almost prismatic or crystalline expres- Genus Loci (1960). highly on parameters like secularization and sion where traditional architectural features 4. Norberg-Schulz, Christian, The functionalist self-expression compared with most other like gabled roofs and brick walls suddenly Arne Korsmo, Oslo 1986 countries worldwide.1 appear abstract and unconventional. One of 5. Dahle, Einar, Bengt Espen Knutsen, Oslo the earliest examples of such a formal principle 2009. The book main subject is the son of In architecture ”the Modern Project” appears to have become manifest through the creation dates back to the mid-19th century where Knut Knutsen, but a big part of the book deals Michael Gottlieb Bindesbøll, the architect with the father. of the welfare state. In this process political es- tablishments allied themselves with the artistic behind the famous Thorvaldsen Museum in 104 6. Tostrup, Elisabeth, Norwegian Wood. The Copenhagen, designed a mental hospital at Thoughtful Architecture of Wenche Selmer. and architectural elite throughout most of the th Oringe. The hospital buildings are designed New York 2006 20 century. Thus a progressive elite culture was diffused through large segments of the with simple yellow-brick walls and gabled red 7. Grønvold, Ulf, Lund & Slaatto, Oslo 1988 tile roofs. The gabled roofs gradually step 8. Norberg-Schulz, Christian and Postiglione, population through social housing projects and extensive institutional projects designed up towards the main building whose corners Gennaro, Sverre Fehn, New York are anchored by grey buttresses. The entire Fjeld, Per Olaf, Sverre Fehn. The Pattern of by the best architects of the time. During this period the political establishment was open composition is reminiscent of an organic or Thoughts. New York 2009 crystalline form with the same fi gure repeating 9. Grønvold, Ulf, Arne Henriksen. Oslo 2010 to experiments as long as they were at the disposal of the populace. within a given pattern. 10. Jensen & Skodvin Architects. Oslo 2007 Projects like Oringe were instrumental in 11. Snøhetta (ed), Snøhetta. Works, Baden, Another aspect of this history of the perva- siveness of modern architecture in the Nordic making Bindesbøll a signifi cant source of inspi- Switzerland 2009 ration for Danish 20th century architects who 12. A+U 469 countries lies in the fact that it can be consid- were generally critical of historicism. Like Kay 13. A+U 211 ered the natural development of an already Fisker they were preoccupied with Bindesbøll’s 14. Frampton, Kenneth and Sand, Bente, existant building culture rather than a distinct break with the past: The fi rst generation of Nor- use of simple techniques to create a sober yet Kristin Jarmund, Oslo 2008 2 dic functionalists were schooled in the tradition artistically valuable architecture. It was felt by of either Classicism or Arts and Crafts. This many that Bindesbøll’s work foreshadowed meant that many of the properties of these functionalism in Denmark. movements were subtly carried over into their The general formal principles of Oringe formulation of the modern functionalist project. resurfaced in 20th century Danish architec- The works of the Nordic Modern movement ture with P. V. Jensen Klint’s (1853-1930) may have resembled that architecture on which unrealized yet epochal 1907 monument the it was modelled, but it was strongly infl uenced Crystalline Cluster. Like Oringe 50 years by older traditions and hence perhaps less earlier, Klint’s monument features a hierarchic determined to be avantgarde than for instance composition culminating at the centre and the German Neues Bauen movement. dominated by the fi gure of the pitched roof. 19th century architecture was particularly Unlike Oringe however, Klint introduces a dual centre and the gabled roofs are partially deformed by truncated corners. Klint is more architects from the post-war years right up purged of all ornament. This project was an modern than Bindesbøll but his crystal fasci- until the 1970s where studios like Vandkun- architectonic manifesto refl ecting the thinking nation fundamentally stems from the same sten (founded 1970) were using affordable behind Petersen’s 1920 lecture Contrasts: ”The Romantic origins, now combined with a dash materials like wood and eternite to create a surfaces and rhythmic subdivisions of a building of expressionism. Klint was later given the composite, “self-built” aesthetic. should calmly lead up to the contrast that is to opportunity to realize what was to be his main Thus the tradition handed down from Bindes- be found in those decisive places where all is at work -the Grundtvig Church- from 1913-40. bøll indicates a materially homogeneous, stake, where ornament or signifi cant reliefs em- Like Oringe it is executed in yellow brick and compositionally consistent, monumental archi- phasize the essential point in contrast to which features crystalline motifs and buttresses. tecture as well as a more heterogeneous one the great mass should be the calm before the Let us now return to Kay Fisker who in his reminiscent of anonymous, self-built projects. storm”.4 This artistic approach was particularly capacity of Professor at the Academy of Fine Both feature pitched roofs as a recurring motif characteristic of C. F. Hansen’s Copenhagen Arts let his students build a wooden model of which was integrated into Danish modern formal works. According to Petersen the effect was Klint’s Crystalline Cluster. Fisker also used the vocabulary right up through the 20th century. optimized by emphasizing the extent of the crystalline cluster theme when working with his The Legacy of C. F. Hansen: Anonymity building; thus a long, horizontal building should colleagues C. F. Møller (1898-1988) and Poul and Monumentality not be broken up by such things as conspicuous Stegmann (1888-1944). The unadorned yellow This ability to work with anonymous state- dormer windows. brick walls of their Århus University project ments alongside the monumental is also char- Although Petersen only served as professor from 1931 show clear signs of this inspiration acteristic of C. F. Hansen (1756-1845). Unlike at the Academy for fi ve years he was to prove only this time tinged with a functionalist desire the Beaux-Arts architect Bindesbøll, Hansen enormously signifi cant to the upcoming gen- for abstraction and featuring a plan inspired by consistently subscribed to the classical tradi- eration who translated his formal principles into Bauhau-director Hannes Meyer’s (1889-1954) tion. Having gone unappreciated for the latter a new functionalist language. One example functionalist Bernau school from 1928-30. part of the 19th century, he was rediscovered of the use of these formal principles across Arne Jacobsen’s (1902-71) work from the by a number of young architects in the early different stylistic expressions may be found 1940s and 50s also features simple yellow 20th century. He provided a fi ne example of in Arne Jacobsen’s various city hall projects: brick walls, abstract detailing and volumetrics an architect who used his methods sparingly Thus Søllerød City Hall from 1942 is from a determined by the pitch of the roofs such as his and was seen as a way out of the eclectic period where Jacobsen was experimenting Søholm complex from 1950. Correspondingly aesthetics which were dominant at the time. with fusing modern formal language with Jørn Utzon’s (1918-2008) work from the 1950s His Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen and its monumentality while Rødovre City Hall from 105 and early ’60s was very much characterized by immediate surroundings dating from 1810-26 1956 is an expression of his interest in the pitched roofs as a recurring element. Utzon’s constitute a unique part of the city where the International Style.