Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

Facts

Brewer's sculptures for the people

By Simon Ostenfeld Pedersen (5 stories)

" Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek is located in the heart of Copenhagen. Glyptotheca is Greek for a room devoted to a collection of sculptures. It was founded by the brewer Carl Jacobsen, and takes its name from his Ny Carlsberg brewery. The museum contains the brewer's art collection, which he and his wife Ottilia bequeathed to the public. Jacobsen wanted a museum that would both educate and enlighten citizens. The Ny Carlsberg Glypotek combines art and architecture in an edifying national epos. One of the most sumptuous Danish buildings, it was designed by Vilhelm Dahlerup in 1897 and then remodelled by him in 1906; by Hack Kampmann in 1906; by Henning Larsen in 1996 and most recently by Dissing+Weitling in 2006. "

Public place

Selected entry

Democracy of light

Story written by Rasmus Vestergaard

Time / Periode 1997

4 Comments 1 recommendations

Malmö Public Library (Stadsbibliotek) is famed worldwide for its 1997 building "Calendar of Light”. The new building was designed by the Danish architect Henning Larsen as an extension to the original public library. Although the new library extension mirrors the existing building's square shape, it bears no other similarities with the original library. In Larsen's building, the wall facing the surrounding park is fully glazed. The wall of windows opens up the building to its surroundings, eliminating the divide between outdoors and in. The key is the light: During the day, interaction between the library and gardens is created by daylight, while the artificially lit library interior creates dialogue after dark. There is a connectedness between the building and its surroundings, which invites everyone to participate in life at the library. In this way, Henning Larsen's building portrays the role played by libraries – along with museums, theatres and arts & culture centres – in the Scandinavian welfare society. This is where cultural heritage is united with life lived here and now. Society has a democratic obligation to invite all citizens inside these cultural buildings, and as a citizen one has the right of access to knowledge, information and learning. This common Scandinavian legacy has found its tangible architectural embodiment in Malmö Public Library.