Karres en Brands Landschapsarchitecten + Polyform Arkitekter recently won the international competition for redesigning the Museum Garden of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, with their entry ‘SMK tilbage i Parken’ (‘SMK back in the park’). The project will be realized in collaboration with Svava Riesto, Oluf Jørgensen Ingeniører and Via Trafik. The design is based on the concept of connecting the museum garden with the neighbouring park Østre Anlæg, where, in the current situation, it turns its back on. By doing so, the SMK will be embedded into the park and the Museum Garden becomes the new entrance area for both the SMK and Østre Anlæg. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The design is simple and flexible, yet full of character. It invites visitors, artists and passers-by to multiple uses. The heart of the design is a ‘socle’: an unique water feature that can be used as a flexible stage for the museum, city life and many other activities. The Museum Garden will have an explicit green character thanks to the spacious lawns and vast planting of indigenous tree species. By the arrangement of spatial elements the garden becomes an intermediary between collection, museum, park and city.
In the Museum Garden, the city life intertwines with art. Installations, events and a view on the many towers of Copenhagen accompany the Statens Museum for Kunst into a new era.
Architects: Karres en Brands Landschapsarchitecten + Polyform Arkitekter Location: Copenhagen, Denmark Collaborators: Oluf Jørgensen Ingeniører and Via Trafik Client: National Gallery of Art / Copenhagen Year: 2011-2013 Program: Museum Garden Area: 7.500 m2 Budget: ca. 2,7 Mio euro (20.5 Mio DKK) Type: Invited competition