Statens Museum for Kunst | karres+brands

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Image | Copyright Wichmann+Bendtsen

In 2011, together with Polyform Arkitekter, Karres en Brands won the international competition for the redesign of the museum garden of the Statens Museum for Kunst in
Copenhagen. The design, ‘SMK tilbage i Parken’ (SMK returns in the Park) connects the museum garden with the Østre Anlæg park, located on the city’s former fortifications.
With this, the SMK will become naturally embedded in the park, by which it in fact revises the previous situation. The museum garden thus forms the new entrance area for the
SMK and Østre Anlæg.

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Image | Copyright Wichmann+Bendtsen
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Image | Copyright Wichmann+Bendtsen

The design is simple, distinctive and flexible. The new plan offers an alternative to the huge, monolithic building, and uses the terrain’s existing shifts in elevation. The heart of the museum garden is a ‘base’, a unique water feature that can at the same time be used as a stage for the museum, city life, and other activities. The garden has a pronounced green character, with spacious lawns and plantings of native tree species. The interplay of the spatial elements ensures that the garden is an intermediary between collection, museum, park, and city. Museum visitors, artists, and passers-by are thus invited make versatile use of the museum garden.

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In September 2014, the museum garden was officially opened. The 32-metre-wide pond in the middle of the garden is a dominant gathering point: this element brings people
together, and acts as a large reflecting pool that brings the sky and many towers of Copenhagen into the garden. If the pond is empty, it can be used for art installations and
concerts, and in the winter as an ice rink. Within the new museum garden, city life mixes with art, installations, and events—and thereby announces a new era for the Statens
Museum for Kunst.

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Statens Museum for Kunst
Location | Copenhagen, Denmark

Design | 2011 – 2013
Construction | 2013 – 2014

Client | Statens Museum for Kunst
In collaboration with Polyform Arkitekter, Svava Riesto, Oluf Jørgensen Ingeniører, Via Trafik

Image Credit | karres+brands & Wichmann+Bendtsen

About Damian Holmes 3431 Articles
Damian Holmes is the Founder and Editor of World Landscape Architecture (WLA). He is a registered landscape architect (AILA) working in international design practice in Australia. Damian founded WLA in 2007 to provide a website for landscape architects written by landscape architects. Connect on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianholmes/