Went on a little field trip with school the other day to see some new architecture in Ørestaden. Ørestaden is a new part of town being build on a thin strip of land along a new metro line.
The firs building is a student housing block by Lundgaar & Tranberg. It´s round with a courtyard inside, inspired by a chinese housing type. In my opinion this building is absolutely amazing. And very few modern buildings are so beautifully detailed as this one. It´s not every day that a fund owned by a bank says to the architects; just make a nice building, it doesn´t matter how much it costs. And the rent is still going to be as low as in other student dorms in Copenhagen.
Unfortunately they are having problem with acoustics, so the move-in date has been delayed a few months. All the floors and most walls are in exposed concrete, which is causing the problems.
Anyway, I would like to live there, but I was too late to sign up
From orestad.dk:
The vision for a vibrant city
Beautiful architecture and impressive public spaces and good infrastructure are not in themselves enough to create a living city. It requires more. The initial goal is to ensure life in the streets, also after office hours, as we don’t wish Ørestad to be inanimate in the evening and weekends. We would like Ørestad to be a setting in which people will work, study and enjoy life 24 hours a day and with natural transitions between private and public areas, encouraging participation rather than isolation.
Business in Ørestad
In Ørestad the interplay of culture, trade and café life forms an inspirational setting for innovative businesses.
Ørestad City is furthermore the ideal location for companies, who require a central setting in the region within an intense urban society with room for both international and Danish companies. It is the aim that Ørestad provide the required physical proximity which makes it possible to share knowledge and develop new ideas, to induce work partnerships and produce a highly skilled workforce.
The green and blue elements
The Ørestad Act ensures urban development of high architectural quality with regard for its natural surroundings. Wide boulevards, green areas, blue canals and a modern Metro are elements in a living city, where people can live and work, study and enjoy themselves 24 hours a day.
The municipal plan also determines the extent and purpose of construction, along with the placing of the Metro lines, and the overall road network - and determines Ørestad’s relation to the surrounding landscape which is the Capital area’s biggest nature park with remarkable fauna.
Infrastructure
Ørestad is an area being created from the ground up, born with fully developed infrastructure - roads, railways and proximity to the airport. Due to the well-developed infrastructure, life in the city is easy to generate in the very beginning of the development phase.
Ørestad now and in the future
A key objective for Ørestad as laid out in the Master Plan is that it become the modern counterpart to Copenhagen’s historic centre, at the same time demanding high standards in architecture and environment.
Ørestad comprises four districts each with its own character. Only one or two districts will be developed at a time before starting on a new district. This principle will ensure that not all of Ørestad will resemble one huge building site over the next 20-25 years.
Right now Ørestad is to function as a proving ground for new ideas. But for future generations it will be a testimony to the ambition that characterises Copenhagen’s planning and architecture at the beginning of the new century.
TO GET THERE:
From the city center: Take the "Vestamager" metro from any station. Ørestaden can be accessed from the following stations; Islands brygge, Universitetet (just next to the student housing and concert hall), sundby, Bella center, Ørestad (close to the housing project by plot).
From Kastrup Airport. Take the train to Ørestaden st. Switch to the "Vanløse" metro. that will take you through the area to the city center. So if you don´t have time to stop, thats a good way to see the area since the metro is on columns about 4-5 meters above ground in that area. And the new Copenhagen metro is worth seeing as well, Great architecture.
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