Henning Larsen’s design for Fælledby is “a model for sustainable living.”
It looks so bucolic and lovely, with such lovely renderings.
Site of project/ Google maps/Screen capture
The renderings make it look like it is off in the country somewhere, but in fact it is just beyond the Bryggebroen bicycle bridge under the label Havenestaden, a big piece of land that hasn’t been a dumping ground for a long time, and is now a bit of country in the city. Fælledby is occupying a portion near the south end. Some commenters at Dezeen are outraged about this: “All green NGOs are against this project in Denmark. Amager Common is like Central Park NYC, but just in Copenhagen.”
© Henning Larsen
© Henning Larsen
It’s a beautiful, but clearly controversial, project. And it’s not entirely timber construction, unless they are building the underground parking out of Cross-Laminated Timber, which I doubt.
Feargus O’Sullivan described the site in CityLab a few years ago, writing that the Red-Green alliance of politicians wanted to scrap the project.
But according to Henning Larsen, they are doing everything they can to preserve and encourage the preservation of the natural environment.
It’s a tough call. This looks nothing like the other big new development in the area, Ørestad. It’s only taking up a small portion of the site that is already partly occupied with a hostel. It was, as they say, a dump. But dumps have a way of evolving into parks. In Toronto, rubble from building the subway and office buildings in the sixties was dumped in the lake to build a new outer harbor that was never needed; trees and birds and nature took hold in all the mess and now it is Tommy Thompson Park, “Toronto’s urban wilderness.” Amager Fælled is an urban wilderness now.
Wood construction, cladding, and the almost traditional design make it feel more natural, too.
Critics at Dezeen are not convinced. “This project is greenwashing on a big scale. Most of the animals living at Amager Common will no longer live in this habitat or at all in Copenhagen, if Henning Larsens’ plan is going to be.” But the Danes do such clever and beautiful greenwashing; look what they did with the local incinerator.
But I will give the last word to Signe Kongebro of Henning Larsen:
