There are a few days left to see Byen på Tegnebordet - the current exhibition at the Museum of Copenhagen.

This is an amazing selection of designs from the drawing office of the city architect from 1886, when the drawing office opened, through to 1998 when the office was closed.

After an introduction that includes a large, useful map marking the location of the buildings, the drawings are displayed in three main sections that reflect the key work of the drawing office.

The first section is school buildings and housing, mainly apartment buildings. It shows how important education was in the city and how rapidly the plan and the form of schools changed as teaching methods evolved. Buildings from both types - both the schools and the apartment buildings - are brought to life by short quotations and comments from oral history studies.

A second section looks at what we now describe as utilities or service buildings so here there are designs for water towers, power stations, sewage works and the amazing buildings of the meat market - Den Hvide Kødby.

In the third section are drawings from the city architect’s drawing office of designs for street furniture that still shape the look of the streets and squares of the city so this is designs for street lights, benches and poster stands and the drawing office designed the first electric trams in Copenhagen.

The office employed some of the most talented architects in the city: Ludvig Fenger, the first city architect, designed fine schools; Arne Jacobsen, who worked in the drawing office for a short time around 1929, designed the pavilions and the open stage at Enghaveparken and Ib Lunding designed the trams.

Byen på Tegnebordet, Københavns Museum
the exhibition continues until 14 November 2021