Københavns Museum / Museum of Copenhagen
Stormgade 18, 1555 København V
From 1886 until it’s closure in 1998, Københavns Kommune - Copenhagen City Council - had it’s own drawing office that employed some of the best architects in the city .
There are 180.000 drawings from the office in the archive. Many shown here for the first time were clearly working drawings so are much thumbed and others are amazing presentation drawings for projects that did not get beyond the drawing board.
The English title of the exhibition is a little ambiguous - in that it might suggest these are sketches or scenes in the city - whereas the Danish, if translated directly, is more specific so this is The City on the Drawing Board.
These are superb drawings, often described in English as technical drawings - so plans, elevations and details of construction drawn to a specific scale - and they include designs for major projects like the White Meat Market in the Meat Packing District, apartment buildings around the city, new schools, engineering infrastructure including water towers and even designs for details of street furniture like city benches. street lighting and advertising stands
Byen på Tegnebordet / Drawing a City
Københavns Museum / Museum of Copenhagen