Høje Gladsaxe

Facts

Landscape of contrasts

By Vibeke Andersson Møller (16 stories)

Near Utterslev Bog stands a row of five 16-storey blocks. Beside them are several five- and nine-storey blocks, a shopping centre, schools and a church. These comprise Høje Gladsaxe, built in 1963-68 by architects Hoff & Windinge in cooperation with Jørgen Juul Møller & Kai Agertoft and Alex Poulsen. Høje Gladsaxe is a result of the industrialised building circular", which was introduced in 1960. To stimulate the construction business, the circular guaranteed a minimum production of industrialised buildings to the tune of 7,500 homes over four years, and that benefited Høje Gladsaxe, for one. "

Public place

Selected entry

High-rise blocks protect nature

Story written by Vibeke Andersson Møller

Time / Periode 1963 1968

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When the Høje Gladsaxe project was still in the pipeline, two special challenges lay ahead. The first was the new industrialised technique with the typical repetition of identical prefabricated concrete elements in long facades - the architectural ideal of the time. This required coherence of function, form and technique. The second challenge was the location of the high-rise blocks in the landscape. The buildings are at the top of a slope leading down to Utterslev Bog, and to preserve as much of the countryside as possible, the buildings were vertical. The contrast between nature and construction was in focus and the five very high blocks of flats stand as monuments in the landscape. Sadly, it rather quickly became evident that high-rise flats such as Høje Gladsaxe fell short in terms of social and human expectations.