R-chitecture

Do you other architects out there ever see buildings and say to yourself, "I designed that building! In school!" The photo above is courtesy of my SIL, Anne-Marie and BIL, Bart... Bart is working in Moss, Norway for a month and when Anne-Marie visited they drove to Copenhagen for some site-seeing. They had a little fun with the camera and took some architecture photos for me. If anyone else is taking a trip and feels the need to provide me with blog-material, please do! I'd love the opportunity to learn about a new building or city. Back to Bart and Anne-Marie... they somehow managed to make an R for me in front of the Copenhagen Opera House. Aren't they cute? When I saw the photo, I immediately thought of a project I did in undergrad for a concert hall at the water's edge in Baltimore. It had a rounded, mostly metal facade that fronted the water. I remember that being one of the first projects I did with the intention that it be a mixed-use building. It's purpose was to not only be used for pay-performances, but that it be a part of the community accessible by different groups when not in use as a theater or concert hall. And I wanted it to be accessible by boat from Baltimore Harbor. The Copenhagen Opera House is accessible by boat, and apparently, with their public transportation system, it's possible to get a boat ride to the opera with just a normal bus pass. I've never been anywhere in northern Europe, so I enjoyed reading about this building. It opened at the beginning of 2005 and is said to be the world's most modern opera house, and also one of the most expensive to be built, with construction costs over $500 million U.S. dollars. I was going to write a more extensively about it, but I found such a great write-up on it here, I felt as if I would just be regurgitating info to you. Here are some of the highlights: -The Opera House is situated on Dock Island in Copenhagen Harbor, on axis with Amalienborg, the Royal Residence, as counterpart to Frederik’s Church, forming the termination points of the east-west axis from the harbor and across Amalienborg Square. - It hosts both large-scale opera and ballet performances. -There's a 32 meter long cantilevered roof- that's a huge cantilever! (That's what she said) - The 419 square meter ceiling in the auditorium is covered in gold leaf. - The Royal Danish Orchestra's rehearsal room is 5 floors below the auditorium, or 14 meters below sea level. Thanks again to Bart and Ree for the great photo and blog material! Enjoy the rest of your stay, Bart.