{"id":20727,"date":"2015-05-19T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-19T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/architizer.wpengine.com\/3xn-deep-dive\/"},"modified":"2017-09-19T11:54:25","modified_gmt":"2017-09-19T11:54:25","slug":"3xn-deep-dive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/inspiration\/industry\/3xn-deep-dive\/","title":{"rendered":"Building the Blue Planet: A Deep-Dive Into 3XN’s A+Award-Winning Aquarium"},"content":{"rendered":"

With 90+ categories and 300+ jurors, the Architizer A+Awards<\/a> is the world’s definitive architectural awards program. Following the Awards Gala and Phaidon book launch on May 14, we are pleased to take a closer look at some of the winners of the 2015 Awards program<\/a> \u2014 see all of them here<\/a>.<\/h4>\n

The largest aquarium in Northern Europe makes little distinction between the structure and the sea. The Blue Planet<\/a>, as it\u2019s called, is located along the shores of Kastrup, not far from 3XN’s hometown of Copenhagen. The Danish architecture firm designed a whirlpool-shaped building that tied the surrounding natural waterway to the manmade waterways inside the aquarium. This seamless tie between the natural environment and the built one secured 3XN as the Popular Choice winner of this year\u2019s Architizer A+Award for the Culture: Museum category.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n\t

\u00a9 3XN<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

The history of the Denmark Aquarium goes back to World War II, nearly three-quarters of a century earlier than the opening of the Blue Planet building in 2013. The aquarium was established in 1939 in Charlottenlund, just four months before the breakout of the war and seven months before the occupation of Denmark. Amazingly, the aquarium stayed open through the war, but started to fall into disrepair by its conclusion. Despite upgrades and expansions, it had become clear by the mid-90s that the building couldn\u2019t accommodate a modern, state-of-the-art aquarium. A new site and a new building would be needed, and the Denmark Aquarium launched an international design competition to find the project architect. 3XN\u2019s Blue Planet design was selected as the winner in 2008.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n\t

\u00a9 Adam M\u00f8rk<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

For both the exterior and interior, the architects drew inspiration from a certain natural phenomenon. \u201cThe idea of the whirlpool came from our thought behind the water\u2019s shape,\u201d said Kim Herforth Nielsen, principal of 3XN. \u201cWe wanted to tell a story outside of what was inside the building.\u201d The design process was challenging \u2014 3XN abandoned an original proposal to build the aquarium on level with the water, opting for a more expensive foundation was required instead. 3XN spent a year in the planning phase, trying to work within the strict budget.<\/p>\n

The end result is a stunning structural embodiment of the surrounding landscape. Viewed from above, the building has a rounded center surrounded by silvery arms of the whirlpool; the overhead design was important to 3XN, as the aquarium is located close to the Copenhagen Airport. From ground level, the curves are more subtle, with the whirlpool \u201carms\u201d fading into the surrounding land. Water pools surrounding the structure give the appearance that the aquarium is emerging from the water itself.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n\t

\u00a9 Adam M\u00f8rk<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

3XN covered the fa\u00e7ade of the whirlpool with 33,000 identical aluminum shingles. Herforth Nielsen said they selected the shingles with the idea that the fa\u00e7ade would reflect its surrounding environment, changing color depending on the time of day. As Herforth Nielsen said, \u201cthe reflection is like water.\u201d The shingles also resemble fish scales, an appropriate design choice for an aquarium.<\/p>\n

Given the aquarium’s whirlpool-shaped exterior, 3XN wanted visitors to feel, upon entering, that they were diving underneath the waves. Visitors enter through the longest of the whirlpool\u2019s arms. 3XN worked with lighting artists to help create a flickering underwater environment. (It doesn\u2019t hurt that the building holds 1.8 million gallons of water inside.)<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n\t

\u00a9 3XN<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

The entryway leads to a circular foyer, which is the crux of the interior design. From here, visitors can choose whether to visit river, lake, or ocean habitats. The foyer is considered \u201chome base,\u201d where visitors walk into different compartments within the whirlpool\u2019s arms and then return. \u201cI visited a number of aquariums through this process,\u201d said Herforth Nielsen. \u201cAnd in Sydney, I got stuck in the shark area with the temperature at 40 degrees celsius.\u201d He wanted to create a better design to minimize crowding and make it easier to regroup if visitors got separated or lost.<\/p>\n

Throughout the interior, 3XN played with ideas of large and small, creating both grand and intimate settings. \u201cWe carved out big and small shapes to reflect the huge and really small waves,\u201d Herforth Nielsen said. In the African Great Lakes section, for example, the firm designed with smaller, calmer waves in mind. In another exhibit, a towering curved ceiling looks like the underbelly of a baleen whale. The design is accompanied by state-of-the-art AV technology, projections, film, graphics, and illustrations.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n\t

\u00a9 Adam M\u00f8rk<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

\u201cIt had to be a big experience,\u201d Herforth Nielsen said of the final result. In its first year of opening, the Blue Planet drew 1.3 million visitors, twice as many as expected. It\u2019s now considered one of the foremost tourist attractions in Denmark. \u201cIt\u2019s very seldom an architect gets the chance to do this,\u201d said Herforth Nielsen. \u201cIt\u2019s lucky to have this opportunity to use architecture for such storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n\t

\u00a9 3XN<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

See all of the 2015 A+Award Winners here<\/a>, and order the book from Phaidon here<\/a>!<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The largest aquarium in Northern Europe makes little distinction between the structure and the sea. The Blue Planet, as it\u2019s called, is located along the shores of Kastrup, not far from 3XN’s hometown of Copenhagen. The Danish architecture firm designed a whirlpool-shaped building that tied the surrounding natural waterway to the manmade waterways inside the aquarium. This seamless tie between the natural environment and the built one secured 3XN as the Popular Choice winner of this year\u2019s Architizer A+Award for the Culture: Museum category.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"architizer_featured_type":"","architizer_featured_image":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3],"tags":[34],"architizer_project":[],"architizer_brand":[],"architizer_firm":[],"architizer_product":[],"class_list":["post-20727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-industry","category-inspiration","tag-awards"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBuilding the Blue Planet: A Deep-Dive Into 3XN's A+Award-Winning Aquarium - Architizer Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/inspiration\/industry\/3xn-deep-dive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Building the Blue Planet: A Deep-Dive Into 3XN's A+Award-Winning Aquarium - Architizer Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The largest aquarium in Northern Europe makes little distinction between the structure and the sea. 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