Royal Danish Embassy, Berlin

Precise, curved wooden louvers.

The conspicuous wooden screen is a piece of precision work, with its long louvers in ash wood whose innate strength is well suited for the long, straight spans. Also, the veins in ash wood lend structure and character to the louvers without disturbing the impression of brightness. The louvers are fitted very informally with screws, and this straightforward, simple manner forms an interesting contrast to the precision of the finished structure. The 'soft' wooden screen is set off against the sharp element that is clad in perforated steel sheets also on the inside.

The floor of the panoptic room is in a deep brown, shimmering, unhewn stone from Portugal called Azul Cascais. The dark color was chosen in order to provide the tall, very bright room with a comforting and convincing floor.

Bridges and staircases that crisscross upwards in the room are painted white, cast in concrete and with characteristic, rounded edges. The solid centre of the profiles is designed so as to locate the load-bearing strength in the right places of the construction. Often attempts are made to reduce the visual impression of profile thickness and to make them appear light and elegant. In the present building, instead of e.g. having been toothed or sharpened, the edges have been rounded, allowing them to preserve the soft, 'organic' architectural idea apparent in the undulating wooden screen. The staircase, in its flight upwards in the room, caresses the light and the room instead of cutting its way through it.

The lamps, which are both mounted on walls and hanging in thin steel wires from the bridges, were originally designed by the Danish architect Arne Jacobsen around 1935 for the City Hall in Aarhus, Jutland, one of his masterpieces. The expiry of the patent coincided with the emergence in northern Spain of a strong interest in the early, so-called soft, Nordic modernism - and Arne Jacobsen was one of their favorites. Consequently, a Spanish manufacturer of lamps started up production of the old lamp, and we decided to use the version in matt-polished stainless steel, as opposed to the original city hall lamp, which was made of brass. The lamp contributes ambience or spirit to the room - a balance between old and new, and a modern interpretation of a Danish design tradition, which we find appropriate for a building representing Denmark.

The furniture at the embassy comes from several different Danish manufacturers of furniture. The plan was for the embassy to provide the building with new furniture in all rooms, and this is largely what happened. There are examples of good Danish architectural design: Arne Jacobsen chairs and Poul Kjærholm tables produced by Fritz Hansen; Kasper Salto conference chairs produced by Botium; sofas produced by Erik Jørgensen; lamps from Artemide. Bookcases, desks and worktables are part of an office line designed by Nielsen, Nielsen & Nielsen and produced by Hansen & Sørensen. The deep ruby red color, which appears on the undulating internal walls behind the wooden screen, was also used on the walls intended for the bookshelves, which were designed especially for the embassy.

Credits

• Text by 3XN Architects
• Photographs by Finn Christoffersen, Courtesy of 3XN Architects
• Compiled and Edited by Varun M Ajani

View full page Pages: Previous Page 1 | 2 | 3