Concert Hall Aarhus

Facts

Concert hall for the masses

By Anne-Louise Sommer, Mag.art. i litteraturvidenskab fra Københavns Universitet, 1987 (11 stories)

The music scene in Aarhus was to have the best possible setting. So Aarhus Municipality held an architectural competition in 1977. Concert Hall Aarhus, designed by Kjær & Richter, opened in 1982. It has both classical and modern features, including a strictly baroque garden. Together with the City Hall, Ridehuset (a former riding school) and Aros art museum, the Concert Hall forms part of the pulsing cultural heart of Aarhus. In 2005-2007, a new extension, designed by the firm of architects C. F. Møller, doubled the area of the Concert Hall. It now covers 33,000 sq.m. of and would fit more than 240 one-family houses.

Public place

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Urban cultural landmarks

Story written by Anne-Louise Sommer

Time / Periode 1982

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In the 1970s and 1980s, municipalities and the state began constructing a new type of building: the cultural landmark. It was the time for discussing popularised art and bringing democracy into art and culture. Art was to be for the masses. Not only for the highly cultured elite who had sole right to cultural experiences. Concert Hall Aarhus reflects this trend. Classical music still has pride of place, but the repertoire is broad. The extension built in 2007 contains the Symphony Hall, a concert hall with very advanced acoustics. It is based on the proportions of the famous Golden Hall in Vienna, which is considered one of the finest concert halls in the world.