Artist Olafur Eliasson's Celebrates Movement and Space Majestically with his First Building Project in Denmark
What happens when an artist designs a building from scratch. That’s what happened with the Lego family hired artist Olafur Eliasson alongside architectural partner Sebastian Behmann to envision a building together. Located in Denmark, the playful structure marks the artists emergence into the architectural community. Nick-named Fjordenhus, roughly translated meaning ‘a deep inlet of the sea between high cliffs’, it houses the new headquarters for the Lego family wealth fund, Kirk Kapital.
The approach for the one of a kind building is, as the name suggests, is staged within a waterfront setting rising up from the sea. Entering from a dock via a long path, a footbridge leads into a circular public space with a series of portals and apertures peaking into and through the building. The open area at the centre features three of the artist’s sculptures and a mirrored ceiling piece that reflects the light of the sun back into the public spaces. The artist toys with solid wall and open void providing playful opportunities for the visitor to move around in ways unlike other buildings are so willing to afford.
Eliasson’s playfulness and dynamism is present everywhere. His celebration of movement utilizes both high and low tech features introducing a liveliness to the weighty structure. Components of level transition are cleared of the wall and lit up in magical ways other architects are all too quick to ignore affording the room a majestic quality. The cylindrical glass elevator features futuristic top and bottom illumination which when in motion creates an almost time warp effect. Vertical and splayed reflective white armatures spread out from the shaft setting it within the surrounding brick stairwell like a diamond gets set on a ring. The resulting effect makes the stairs almost grow up like a beanstalk around the glowing glass shaft exposing even more movement to the vertical corridor.
The masonry around the stairwells incorporates silver-stained stones reflecting the subtle rhythmic movement of the elevator. In total, 15 tones of custom glazed and unglazed coloured bricks compose the whopping 970,000 bricks that make up Fjordenhus.
As one wanders through the building, the meticulously planned patterns, curved walls and kinetic movement of the elevator creates a changing experience capturing and reflecting light from the apertures above and encompassing river around the building. This is truly a wonderful building and a sublime way to arrive on the architecture scene. We’ll be keeping our eyes out for more to come from the newly formed Studio Olafur Eliasson and applaud his celebration of the elevator within his work.
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