Grain Silos : Nye Bygning i København

Location: Islands Brygge, just south of Copenhagen centre Directions: Walk or take bus 40 from the city centre - main railway station / Tivoli Completion: late 2005 / early 2006 Photos of the building 7 April 2006 © adrian welch Pair of former seed silos on Copenhagen waterfront converted into 86 contemporary residential apartments Figure of eight plan simply expressed Gemini Residence seen in context of dense new housing; rippling new facades Rain shadow creates poetry; boldy toned interior continues circular theme in lights The Chasm: gap between seed silos from dock side, street side Details of junctions between old concrete and new materials More Gemini Copenhagen Photos in the archive - available upon request Architects : MVRDV with JJW Arkitekter Overall impression: strong simple concept beautifully carried through at the macro scale. However the building is cold to the passing pedestrian, devoid of planting or soft surfaces, with no concierge. Whilst we were there we saw no-one enter, pass by or linger in half an hour; the raw retained concrete represents a cool idea - 'keep the silos and build round them above street level' - but in reality thrusts poor material badly handled into your main field of vision. Although the interior atria are intriguing and strongly modelled the building lacks a sense of magic. Passing through the mini-chasm should be exciting and celebrated, but floor, wall and soffit seem not to care, and a sense of a good concept not quite hitting the spot once built. We aim to visit this building again soon to re-evaluate it after it has had a chance to 'settle in'. True we saw it on a rainy day but the architecture should be robust enough to impress. More positively you have got to admire MVRDV's guts in pushing through such a bold programme.