Architecture can be a slow-moving business, and few architects are more aware of this slowness than American Steven Holl. Seven years ago, his firm won an international competition to design the LM Harbor Gateway in Copenhagen, a dramatic new addition to the city’s historic waterfront that would constitute an instant architectural icon for Denmark. The project has been continually delayed by economic issues, but a breakthrough arrived this week: city authorities have approved the design, and construction can finally begin.
Holl’s ambitious design can be traced back to a single sketch that summarizes the architect’s vision in a handful of charcoal lines, two arrows, and three bullet points: “two towers, two orientations, two bridges.” The proposal is defined by its location between the land and the water, with the dual vistas of city and sea informing the position of two towers connected by a slender pedestrian bridge some 490 feet (150 meters) above the harbor.
The two high-rises — named ‘Langelinie’ and ‘Marmormolen’ — incorporate around 625,000 square feet of floor space and will have a mixed-use program containing a hotel, offices, a public auditorium, and expansive lookout terraces. The geometry of the Langelinie tower is derived from the site’s shape and includes a prow-like public deck jutting out toward the sea. Meanwhile, the lookout deck of the Marmormolen tower thrusts toward the city and incorporates the auditorium below.
The project’s most dramatic feature, though, is that elevated passageway, a public link between the waterfront and the city that will afford amazing views across Copenhagen. Two cable-stayed armatures will stretch out across the harbor entrance and meet each other in what Holl calls a “handshake” over the water. The brightly colored aluminum soffits of each half echo shades from the harbor itself: container orange for the undersides of the Langelinie, bright yellow for the undersides of the Marmormolen. By night, up-lights illuminate these vibrant slivers — causing them to be reflected like Holl’s own paintings in the water.
Construction is set to begin in 2016. To explore more of Steven Holl’s projects, check out his firm’s in-depth profile page on Architizer.