Karen Blixens Plads

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approaching the square from the metro station at Islands Brygge

 

Designed by the landscape and architecture studio COBE, Karen Blixens Plads is at the centre of the south campus of the University of Copenhagen and is one of the largest public spaces in the city.

The square, with work just completed and now open, is approached either from the north - from the metro station at Islands Brygge - or from the south from the direction of Amager Fælled.

The main area is paved with pale bricks and the main feature is shallow brick domes that cover part-sunken areas for leaving bicycles but they also form areas for sitting out and reduce what was a bleak and almost overwhelming space simply because of the size of the open area.

To the south the shallow circular mounds are repeated but are heavily planted and with winding pathways between them that create more sheltered areas. Several sunken areas have wetland planting and control the run off of rainwater.

earlier post on Karen Blixens Plads from June 2017 when work began

above - approaching the square from the south - from Amager Fælled

below - the main area north of the library before work started

select any image to enlarge and open as a slide show

 

Karen Blixens Plads

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Work has now started on clearing the ground and erecting temporary hoardings on Karen Blixens Plads at the centre of the south campus of the University of Copenhagen in North Ørested. The reorganisation of this important urban space by COBE will create sunken areas and low man-made hills over them to provide storage for over 2,000 bikes but also create 

“a central urban living room connecting the three main entrances of the university buildings. The new square will be a campus landscape, offering high functional performance as well as recreational resource. The necessary infrastructure is turned into a three-dimensional student hang out.”

quote from Our Urban Living Room - Learning from Copenhagen Arvinius+Orfeus 2016

Walking from the metro station at Islands Brygge, going through the wide opening under the buildings and entering the square at the north-west corner then the space seems vast. From there to the canal to the east it is 185 metres and in width, from the blocks of the humanities buildings to the north front of the library – the square building at the centre of the area – is over 40 metres and from those northern buildings down to the arc of water in front of Tietgenkollegiet – student housing by Lundgaard and Tranberg built around a circular courtyard – is around 170 metres.