The Blue Planet, Copenhagen, Denmark
2008-
Architect: 3XN
Address: Kajakvej, 2770 Kastrup, DK
Client: Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority
Competition: 1st prize in invited competition
Project development: 2010-13
Size: 9.000 m2
Budget: € 25m
The Blue Planet becomes a Whirlpool
Danish architects 3XN wins competition on the new Denmark's Aquarium,
'The Blue Planet' planned to open 2013.
3XNs winning proposal is called 'Whirlpool' inspired by the whirl streams
of the sea, shoals of fish, and swirling starlings turning the sky black.
The centre of the building is the hall, from which the different parts
are 'whirled' in the slightly curved sequence of rooms, at the same time
ensuring that the aquarium will be easy to extend.
The Blue Planet building site is in Copenhagen, at the island of Amager,
right at the coast of Øresund, north of Kastrup Havn, close to
the Copenhagen Airport, and viewed from a plane the whirlpool shape will
show in its full. Approaching on the ground, one will experience the building
as floating in a circular reflection pool, and a walk through its interior
is a travel through several organic worlds.
Designing The Blue Planet the architects team was indeed inspired by nature,
says principal of 3XN, Kim Herforth Nielsen.
"We wanted to stage a totality of the experience one has visiting
an aquarium. The starting point was this magnificent experience of actually
watching fish in their element. We wanted to create that adventurous feeling,
and we took inspiration in the natural phenomenon of the whirlpool or
maelstrom drawing you into the deep. A sculpture at the coast it unites
the natural elements of water, air and earth."
Bent Frank, Chairman of the consortium behind The Blue Planet has great
hopes for the future of the new Denmark's Aquarium, saying that
"the 3XN winning proposal is based on the clear idea and strikes
one as a very convincing piece of architecture. It has the potential for
making the new Denmark's Aquarium a pivotal point for extraordinary experiences
and new insights into the world of science. With this extraordinary design
I believe The Blue Planet will become a true landmark for Copenhagen and
Denmark and for all visitors, whether they arrive by plane, by boat or
passing over the bridge from Sweden."
The architectural competition on The Blue Planet was launched in December
last year with six selected architectural firms competing. In March this
year two proposals were selected for a last round, and out of these two
3XNs proposal Whirlpool is now appointed the winner of the competition.
Organized together with the Architect's Association of Denmark, the consortium
behind The Blue Planet is comprised by Denmark's Aquarium, Realdania,
Knud Højgaards Fond and Tårnby Kommune.
Inspired by the shape of water in endless motion, The Blue Planet is shaped
as a great whirlpool. The new Denmark’s Aquarium is situated in the
borderland between the worlds of Poseidon and Zeus. The walls and roofs
form a single, continuous flow and are clad in a way which emphasises
the wavy outline of the building, thereby telling a story of this union.
The first and longest of the whirlpool’s arms follows the shape of
the landscape and the building, moving into the land.
As soon as visitors arrive at The Blue Planet, the building will convey
a sense of the special experience that awaits them inside. Here, the whirlpool
has pulled you into another world - a world beneath the surface of the
sea. If you tilt your head backwards, you understand that you are really
a part of this aquarium because the roof above the foyer is made of glass,
and at the same time it is the bottom of a pool. High above, through the
pool water, you can see the sky with sunlight being reflected in the water
and forming flickering, shimmering sunspots on the floor and walls of
this light, welcoming and at the same time mysterious entrance area.
The Round Room is a centre of navigation in the aquarium, and this is
where visitors choose which river, lake or ocean to explore. Each exhibition
has its own face towards the Round Room, each with its own entrance, starting
with a buffer zone – a platform where sound and images are used to
introduce the atmosphere communicated in the ensuing exhibition room.
Raised a few metres above the terrain, The Blue Planet is a reflection
of strong coherence; greatness in the smallest of things, all water in
the world being inextricably linked, from the enormous forces of tsunamis
to the infinitely tiny, spinning molecules. Overlooking the Øresund,
the building connects land and sea, drawing both the great outdoors and
visitors inside.
In the landscape, the great WHIRLPOOL continues through the terrain, the
pools and the sea surrounding the building. Like watery currents, the
building is not static – the movement continues into the future by
virtue of always allowing possible extensions to add more, simply by letting
the lines of the whirlpool grow further out. Any expansion would cause
a minimum of inconvenience to the contemporary exhibitions and the existing
parts of the building. The extensions can simply be added to an individual
arm, solely closing this particular section down during the extension
process and not re-opening it until completion. Secondly, the key element
is that any new building volumes added will be extensions of the architecture,
with any expansion of the aquarium simply taking place in a natural dialogue
with the building itself.
Nature and culture can be mixed, controlled by topics and ideas, on the
basis of the stories to be told or in interaction with the audience. The
building is flexible enough to accommodate it all, and the dominant whirl,
with its endless scope for variation, but also repetition and rhythm,
holds it all together. The curves which define the absolutely unique and
sculptural look of the building must be perceived as part of the backdrops
to the sceneries of the exhibitions.
Blue Planet Copenhagen images from 3XN Architects 081008
The Blue Planet
Copenhagen architects : 3XN
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Blue Planet Copenhagen -
page : adrian welch / isabelle lomholt