The Danish Museum by BIG

The Danish Museum Location: Helsingør, Denmark Architect: Bjarke Ingels Lecturer: Dr. Rami Daher Student’s Name: Joanna Arida Student’s ID Number: 20162601008 Course: Heritage Conservation W20/21

INDEX APPROACH TO CONSERVATION

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LEVELS OF INTERVENTION

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VALUES OF THE PLACE

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AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY

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STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

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REFERENCES

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Figure 1 Site Plan from Google Earth. (Ingels)

Used between 1882-1983, the Helsingør Værft employed approx. 3,600 workers in its heyday. The dockyard was built nearby the famous Kronborg Castle. The site of the castle was identified as a World Heritage Site in 2000, therefore, it was extensively reconstructed and restored. The Danish dock is an example of a shipyard that has lost its function and was recently adapted for re-use. By transforming the shipyard, the site has become publicly accessible, enabling the experience of these otherwise closed-off areas to everyone who did not work there (Hettema & Egberts, 2019). The Maritime Museum in Helsingør showcases intensity of the changes on seafaring inflicted by the industrial revolution. However, the shipyard managed to keep up with the upcoming technology for a while.

Figure 2 The museum is placed in the old dry dock within the 500m UNESCO preservation line from the castle. (Ingels)

APPROACH TO CONSERVATION The Danish National Maritime Museum by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and its surroundings are a heritage site in which abandoned harbor areas are re-integrated in the city’s structure which make use of the attractive atmosphere of industrial heritage on the waterfront.

In the 19th century, two approaches were most common: bringing heritage back to an ideal state (Viollet-le-Duc), and focusing on the originality of material (John Ruskin). BIG chose to approach the dock through differential conservation: in this approach, new architecture prevails over historic architecture. However, new interventions should be distinguishable from the existing building, resulting in contrasting architecture. While the new design for the maritime museum is contrasting to its host structure, the dry-dock is used as a canvas for the new architecture, that in its turn is not overpowering.

In order to retain the character of the site, the World Heritage guidelines stated that the new museum could not obstruct views on the castle. The design brief also stated that 1) the shape and size of the dock, 2) the void within the dock and 3) the materiality and 4) its industrial character of the dock were to remain visible in the new museum. Bjarke Ingels Group, turned this complicated brief into their advantage by excavating the surrounding soil and placing the museum around the dry-dock. Two walkways cross the void of the dry-dock, one does this perpendicular on the orientation and provides access to the castle as well as the auditorium space. The other walkway zigzags through the void and provides access to the museum and more exhibition space (Madsen, 2014).

With their cultural flavor, BIG emphasizes differentiation in place and time between the various historical layers of the cultural site. They allowed both the museum and dockyard to coexist. The programmatic objective was to create a museum that portrayed the history of the Danish Maritime. Through its architecture, transparency, and accessibility, the site formed both a physical and spiritual connection with the community.

Figure 3&4 Building the museum underground and around the Dry Dock while preserving it (Ingels)

LEVELS OF INTERVENTION

A series of three double-level bridges span the dry dock, serving both as an urban connection, as well as providing visitors with short-cuts to different sections of the museum. The museum’s auditorium also serves as a bridge connecting the adjacent yard with the Kronborg Castle; and the sloping zig-zag bridge navigates visitors to the main entrance. This bridge unites the old and new as the visitors descend into the museum space overlooking the majestic surroundings above and below ground (Ingels).

With 7meters below the ground, the history of the Danish Maritime unfolds in a continuous motion within and around the dock. All floors (exhibition spaces with the auditorium, classroom, offices, café and the dock floor within the museum) slope gently creating exciting and sculptural spaces.

Figure 5&6 Auditorium and exhibition hall (Luca Santiago Mora)

Figure 7 First Floor (Ingels)

Figure 8 Second Floor (Ingels)

Figure 9 Section 1 (Ingels)

Figure 10 Section 2 (Ingels)

LEVELS OF INTERVENTION

The transformation of the Maritime Museum is more drastic in its approach and architectural expression. Each site had to be deeply sanitized in order to facilitate new uses, leaving a sterile version of the shipyard. This is because both the area and the water have become polluted over time with oil, chemicals and scrap metal. The issue had to be resolved in order to make the space functional for a new purpose. Structural adjustments were also necessary. The structural improvements and the rehabilitation of the site took out most of the budget (Frearson, 2013). Also, most of all the additional buildings, sheds, cranes, etc. were demolished. Most notably, the removal of the cranes has changed the sight of the shipyards significantly. This leads to a certain calmness that was not present before the transformation.

Figure 11&12 The walls of the docks and the ground were preserved (Luca Santiago Mora)

LEVELS OF INTERVENTION The heritage values of the area were integrated into the design brief, focusing mostly on the material and the morphology of the building (brainstorming on the spatial development of the site and the preservation of the material). This implied that respective heritage values of this shipyard should be visible throughout the redesign. What was deemed valuable in the dockyard and what was aimed for the design, in a way, instructed the approach that the architects took. Overall, the new building was designed to be open to the public, with functions like a museum or a cafe or event space.

The dockyard in Helsingør stood out since its plot size is much larger than the surrounding buildings, regardless the density of the area. The shipyard in Helsingør is only partially protected, the dry-dock is not protected.

Nevertheless, the experience of the dry-dock and its surroundings was regarded as most valuable.

The analysis of the case study showed that there is no need for a worldfamous star architect or a significant budget to transform shipyards to make successful adaptations.

Figure 13&14 Museum exhibitions (Rasmus Hjortshõj)

Dry Dock

Bridge to Kronborg

Concrete sloping exhibition spaces Figure 15 Spaces (Ingels)

Museum surrounding Dry Dock

Stairs to Dry Dock

Wooden supporting spaces

Bridges connecting Galleries

Entrance to Museum

Museum

Figure 16 Circulation (Ingels)

VALUES OF THE PLACE When looking at the adaptation process, heritage professionals influenced the choice of adaptation strategy by how they selected the heritage values of the shipyards. The values they indicated narrowed the possible approach of the architects and the outcome of the design.

ARCHITECTURAL: Many features of a typical shipyard like the multiple workshops, storage, crane and the dry-dock or slipway are present. The dockyard showcases a range of the materials that are common in industrial buildings since the industrial revolution, like raw concrete and cast iron. The shipyards are also all placed perpendicular to the water, with an entrance on land and the opening of the building towards the water. Helsingør is connected to the road network of the city, the yard is formed between the road and the water.

HISTORIC VALUE: Maritime life has been an integral part of society, especially within port cities. The influences from the seafarers landing in a port city provided a fusion of maritime and land-based culture (Beaven, 2016). This was encouraged by the nature of early maritime transport: ships. Their size, speed and capacity matched those of the harbor they docked, which in its turn resulted in a steady stream of seafarers and leading to a maritime culture within the city. Maritime and city life were deeply interconnected and mutually interdependent: harbor workers and sailors lived in the city permanently or temporarily and complex economies developed around the storage and trade of goods that came and went by ship. Unfortunately, the upscaling of maritime transportation has distanced and alienated maritime life from cities due to the introduction on the industrial era (Hettema & Egberts, 2019).

Figure 17&18 Museum connection with the castle - night shots (Rasmus Hjortshõj)

Figure 19 Bridge connecting galleries across the Dry Dock (Luca Santiago Mora)

Figure 20 Museum’s location next to the Castle (Ingels)

CULTURAL VALUE: What distinguishes shipyards from other industrial buildings is their position on the edge of the land and water, both physically and culturally. Where early docks were situated on the water’s edge, industrial ones used sloped slipway and dry-docks, through which the border between architecture, land and water is blurred. More culturally, docks produced the vessels that gave humans access to the sea and parts of the world beyond the waters. The site’s cultural value stands strong with its historic and contemporary connections between people and the water.

ECONOMIC VALUE: Considering that the Castle’s surroundings is a hotspot of different cultural heritage sites, this dry dock also carries tourism values as it adds to the whole educational and cultural/heritage tourism. Its presence will help us understand the cultural significance of Maritimes, even in today’s context. Also, income earned from such re-use helps secure the ongoing sustainability of the site and the employment and other economic benefits generated by such re-use contributes towards the regeneration of both the dockyard and wider local community.

Bridge and visual axis to Kronborg Castle (Rasmus Hjortshõj)

Figure 21 Stairs leading to the Dry Dock – it unites the old with the new (Rasmus Hjortshõj)

Figure 22 The Dry Dock, the galleries, and the people (Rasmus Hjortshõj)

AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY The Nara Charter focused significantly of authenticity. It emerged as an anti-movement of the Venice Charter that focused on European cultural values. It praised cultural diversity and highlighted the need to look on a heritage site within its own cultural context (traditions, spirit, feel) in order to evaluate the values and authenticity. Authenticity revolved around four factors: setting, materials, design, and craftsmanship.

The Danish Maritime Museum had to find its place in a unique historic and spatial context; between one of Denmark’s most important and famous buildings, Kronborg Castle, and a new cultural center. This is the context in which the museum has proven itself with an understanding of the character of the region and especially the Kronborg Castle. Leaving the 60-year-old dock walls untouched, the museum and galleries are placed below ground and arranged in a continuous loop around the dry dock walls. This left the dock be the centerpiece of the exhibition; an open, outdoor area where visitors experience the scale of ship building (Chahine, 2015). The heritage values of the area were integrated into the design brief, focusing mostly on the material and the morphology of the building. This implied that respective heritage values of this shipyard should be visible throughout the redesign.

By preserving the drydock, not restricting views onto the Castle, focusing on the experience and surroundings of the dockyard; it seems that BIG Architects focused well on preserving the authenticity of the heritage site while re-adapting it into a museum.

Figure 23 Night shot (Rasmus Hjortshõj)

Figure 24 People walking on top of the museum (Rasmus Hjortshõj)

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The Danish Maritime Museum stands as a valuable monument of Denmark. As has become clear, the historic and spatial character of the dockyard lies in its specific connection between land and water. While the dockyard was historically closed off, its new functions made it accessible to the public. The Maritime Museum and its exhibition emphasizes the connection of society to the water (Frearson, 2013).

BIG Architects were able to tie the dockyard’s locality into its international historic context. This shows that adaptive re-use projects can highlight historic and contemporary connections between people and the water, even though this relationship has shifted from a practical to a cultural one.

When respecting both the history and past of a heritage site, adaptive re-use projects of shipyards can lead to highly diverse outcomes, that can each do justice to the core characteristics of historic shipyards. BIG was able to preserve the past through adaptive reuse while at the same time respecting its architectural values and symbols through the distinction of what is new and what is old.

REFERENCES • Beaven, B., Bell, K. and James, R. (2016), Port Towns and Urban Cultures, International Histories of the Waterfront, c.

1700-2000, Palgrave Macmillan, London.

• Chahine, A. (2015, December 21). The Danish National Maritime https://www.architecturelab.net/the-danish-national-maritime-museum-big/

Museum

• Frearson, A. (2013, October 18). Danish National Maritime Museum https://www.dezeen.com/2013/10/18/danish-national-maritime-museum-by-big/

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• Hettema, J., & Egberts, L. (2019). Designing with maritime heritage: Adaptive re-use of small-scale shipyards in northwest Europe [Abstract]. Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, 10, 2nd ser., 130-143. doi:10.1108/JCHMSD-04-2019-0032 • Ingels, B. (n.d.). Danish National Maritime Museum. Retrieved from https://big.dk/#projects-sof • Madsen, D. (2014, August 18). 2014 AL Design Awards: Danish National Maritime Museum, Helsingor, Denmark.

Architect Magazine. https://www.architectmagazine.com/al-design-awards/2014-al-design-awards-danish-nationalmaritime-museum-helsingor-denmark_o

IMAGE REFERENCES • Hjortshõj, R. (n.d.). [Photograph found in Helsingor]. Retrieved from https://coastarc.com/ • Ingels, B. (n.d.). Danish National Maritime Museum. Retrieved from https://big.dk/#projects-sof

• Mora, L. S. (n.d.). [Photograph found in Helsingor]. Retrieved from http://www.lucasantiagomora.it/page/home.htm