The School by the Sound

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Functionalist public health

By Keld Grinder-Hansen, Cand.mag., Ph.D. (18 stories)

The listed school building was built on the island of Amager in 1935-38 by the architect Kaj Gottlob (1887-1976). The school is one of the period's best examples of Functionalist architecture, in which sunlight, fresh air and hygiene are key elements. The School by the Sound" was one of the first pavilion schools in Denmark, in which all rooms are grouped around an atrium. The school was originally intended for 1,500 pupils, placed in standard classrooms of 6 x 8 metres. As an annex to the main school, an 'open-air school' was built for 144 infirm children. Here the children received care and treatment while learning ordinary school subjects in the distinctive octagonal classrooms. "

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Daylight and fresh air for the workers' children

Story written by Keld Grinder-Hansen

Time / Periode 1938

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In the mid-1920s, pavilion schools began to replace the old-fashioned corridor schools that had predominated. The first example of a pavilion-style school was the sixth-form college of Øregårds Gymnasium, built in 1923-24 in the Neo-Classicist style. The central assembly hall especially took on a prominent position in the new school architecture of Functionalism. Kaj Gottlob built his first pavilion school, the Katrinedal School, in 1934. In the years that followed, he built his masterpiece, The School by the Sound", which was inspired by similar schools in Germany. The pavilion schools symbolise the Modernist movement's preoccupation with light, air, health and interaction with nature. It also conveyed the sociopolitical message that working class children also deserved to attend school in an appealing architectural setting. "