Public space pays tribute to Danish author
As a tribute to Danish author Karen Blixen, the architecture firm COBE has created a new public square and university plaza for Copenhagen.
Among the key features of the new public space are hollow bicycle hills which provide space for more than 2,000 parked bikes.
Karen Blixen’s Plads is described as an open, welcoming and innovative space - but is practical too, including parking for 2000 bikes. Image credit - Rasmus Hjortshøj, COAST.
The 21,415 square-metre landscape is named after the 19th Century author and sits between the University of Copenhagen and the Danish Royal Library’s buildings at the university’s south campus.
Made possible thanks to a donation from A.P. Møller Fonden, COBE says, “Karen Blixens Plads brings together the university’s need for urban spaces with the open landscape of the neighbouring commons.”
Copenhagen is one of the most bike friendly cities in the world - which is why the spaces works with them. Image credit - Rasmus Hjortshøj, COAST.
The undulating landscape, made to mimic the surrounding terrain, is one of Copenhagen’s largest public spaces, serving as a meeting place for students, locals and employees.
Broken into smaller zones with room for activities on and inside the hills the project brings nature to the campus, with circular plant beds cut into the paving to encourage biodiversity.
Copenhagen is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world, with more than 40% of residents cycling to work every day. Therefore, a kind of ‘carpet’ covers three small hills made from cast concrete shells. These load bearing structures provide an airy space underneath for bike parking, and are covered in lightly coloured hand-laid tiles which reference the surrounding university buildings.
COBE set out to create a low maintenance and sustainable urban space. Image credit - Rasmus Hjortshøj, COAST.
Karen Blixens Plads can also serve as an outdoor auditorium, with seating for up to 1,000 on the stone steps cut into the sides of the artificial hills, and additional standing room for large events.
COBE was careful to create a low-maintenance and sustainable urban space, with simple, durable materials and limited lighting and furnishings. The development has the capacity to handle stormwater, with rainwater being delayed into depressions in the landscape, creating small wet biotopes which support the biodiversity of the site. Rainwater is able to be evaporated, but in cases of extreme precipitation, it will be used to supplement a nearby canal.
COBE describe its design as an, “open and welcoming space … an innovative, spectacular and multi-functional design that accommodates and promotes green transportation, climate change adaption and biodiversity.”
