Orestad evolution.

One of the first cities of Europe, Copenhagen, has had an ideas competition to see how it can expand at Orestad in the twenty-first century. Here we show the four first prizewinners, and one of the most interesting of the others.

The city of Copenhagen is one of the most cherished and agreeable in the world (p52). Its state of preservation is due to very careful and far-sighted planning policies that have, with one or two exceptions, allowed the whole of the centre to remain free of tall buildings (though there are some high and not altogether successful blocks of '60s flats in the suburbs). Horizontal expansion has on the whole been controlled within the finger plan of 1947, under which long thin strips of development along suburban railway lines spread out from the centre of the city, leaving areas of countryside between. (The resulting figure is not as clear as the ideal would indicate, partly because there has been a tendency of late for parts of the country areas to be built over.)

In a way, the Orestad site is another finger, or rather the strengthening of one that already exists on the island of Amager to the south of the centre. The site stretches 6 kilometres long and 500 metres wide south from Christianshavn in the centre of the city towards the airport, an area that will undoubtedly become of great importance when the bridge over the Oresund between southern Sweden and Amager is completed (the aim is by the turn of the century) and Skane is drawn even more firmly into the orbit of Greater Copenhagen. Both the international railway and the international motorway will cross the site about a quarter of the way along its length from the south and connections with the new roads and light railway are required.

The aim of the Orestad Development Corporation (Orestadsselskabet), which was set up under a special Act of Parliament to organise the project, is rather more than just to make another long suburb. 'Orested is to accommodate a wide span of activities, including institutions of higher learning, research institutes, research-based and knowledge-orientated organisations, cultural establishments and city-orientated businesses The new district is to act as a modern equivalent of the old centre of Copenhagen, presenting an urban environment of high artistic value and good environmental qualities. It is to act as a contemporary laboratory for new ideas and, in the future, to testify to the aspirations of urban planning and architecture in Copenhagen towards the end of the twentieth century.'(1)

For all the city and government support of the Orestad project, it is far from being uncontroversial. Opposition focuses partly on the destruction of areas of Amager common (though much of this nature reserve reclaimed from the sea will be preserved). More importantly perhaps, opponents point to the very large areas of the existing city that should be developed, particularly along the harbour, where changes in industry and trade have left large sites derelict or vacant - for instance there is a very large empty area left by a shipbuilding yard in Christianshavn opposite the Christiansborg Palace, the seat of Parliament in the very heart of the city. Though the Copenhagen Municipal Plan lays emphasis on urban reconstruction in the harbour and central parts of the city and the Orestad development will be phased well into the next century, there are still objections. Opponents argue that, for all the prosperity that the bridge is expected to bring, resources will be limited and investment in the centre may well be starved if the Orestad project goes ahead. Nevertheless, the competition's dramatic challenge was taken up by 122 entrants from the European Community and Scandinavia. The jury(2) chose to give four generous first prizes (500 000 DKr each) and a score of other prizes and awards on the basis that they 'wished to award prizes to a number of concrete solutions which differ completely in principle, as well as [to] a number of more abstract comments in the debate on the cities of the future and urban planning'.(3)

The brief required all entries to respect various existing elements of the site - for instance the common to the west, the university and other institutions to the north, certain protected natural wetland areas within the site, and the Belle Center, the national exhibition centre which at the moment rather bizarrely projects into the middle of the common. The new suburban light railway line was plainly to be the backbone of any solution, though the brief suggested that entrants should explore the potential of the boulevard as a unifying urban device.

The comments on the following pages are taken from the jury's report.

First prize (overall winner) Aaro Artto, Teemu Palo, Yrjo Rossi, Hannu Tikka, Matti Kaijansinkko; Finland

'The key concept in this entry is the water element laid out in the north-south direction. This starts as a lake on the Ny Tojhus site, continues in a number of vigorous turns to the south of the University, runs through the protected wetland areas from where it continues through a canal, ending in a wedge-shaped conclusion to the south. To the north a distinctive watergate is formed, marking the entrance to Orestad. The concept is beautiful but leaves little room for construction in the area.

'A number of rectangular building areas are attached to this dominant landscape element. The building areas create contact between the common, Western Amager and existing buildings. This principle creates both urban clarity and a high degree of integration between town and landscape. The location of Orestad Boulevard and the railroad tracks is functional in relation to the plan, and the layout of the Boulevard emphasises both the water landscape and the built-up area in a very convincing manner ...

'The entry is original and of high artistic quality. It is robust towards change and suggests urban formations of great architectural value. The water element is the basic idea of the entry and should therefore have been developed with the same degree of commitment and originality as the best of the built areas. The question is whether the convincing elegance of the water element will be quite as convincing at eye level ...'

First prize Matthew Priestman Architects/Tower 151: John Cramer, Paul Pindelski, Matthew Priestman, Andrew Yeoman, Annabelle Brown, Nenad Konoza, Kresimir Zmisanovic; England

'A canal transforms the area to the south of the University into a large island subdivided by side canals. Two strong landscape elements are introduced on this island: a forest surrounding existing lakes and a hill to the south of the island, partly covered with trees.

'From a finely organised gateway at Amager Boulevard the main road crosses the island in a beautifully curved line. On its way it encounters a number of points of density at the stations, the Belle Center and the crossing motorway. These points of density contain the majority of the buildings intended for commerce and industry. Housing blocks are in detached houses or in buildings laid out as long detached blocks at the foot of the hill or on the periphery of the island, often using side canals as benchmarks and points of identification ...

'Another type of a local point of density is used near the canals: finely organised water areas surrounded by buildings. These areas accommodate various types of common facilities.

'The entry thus achieves a fascinating building structure with changing local concentrations, peaking in the very high density of the buildings for commerce and industry, which is again replaced by openness. This variation between dense and open areas is a distinctive quality, but the jury wishes to point out the problems of use and control related to the large building structures ...

'With unique artistic clarity the entry brings landscape into focus as main structural element. Using this as a starting point, the entry creates a number of local points of density, each of which has the potential for outstanding qualities, opening itself to many different interpretations and so providing a certain robustness towards new interpretations in the future ...'

First prize Jan Henriksen, Niels Friis, Troels Levring; Denmark

'This entry locates a wide canal in the eastern part of the site in the area of transition to the existing buildings. The main road and the City Line run along this canal, which means that the Boulevard becomes a unity comprising canal, road and railroad.

'Buildings are located on sharply delimited plateaux stretching into the common. The building structure is organised as long detached blocks. Two or three plateaux are interlinked by means of diagonal connections orientated towards the spires and towers of the city. By establishing these connections, the entry creates a number of functionally coherent urban districts. Because of their size, these districts are self-contained and comparable to districts such as Frederiksstaden and Christianshavn ...

'The entry suggests that the Ny Tojhus site and Faste Batteri be laid out with building blocks forming a large semi-circular space towards the ramparts of Christianshavn, ending in a tower. Thereby the impact of the Scandinavian Hotel on the city immediately opposite it is modified. The most dense and functionally most complex urban districts are located to the south where the motorway crosses the area. The main concept of this entry is extremely simple and robust in relation to the impact of time. The canal creates a positive element vis-a-vis the existing buildings, and the location of the large infrastructure elements to the east turns the intertwining of nature and built-up area into reality, showing due consideration for the wetland areas and providing adequate space for them ...'

First prize Erik Bystrup; Denmark

'This entry delimits the competition area by boulevards located to the east and the west of the site. Within this clearly defined lay-out the area is divided into a number of 'islands' by means of water surfaces of varying sizes. These islands are subdivided by means of stretches of parkland and other types of vegetation running the east-west direction. Thereby the basic, overall structure of the area is defined. As a supplement to this structural principle, a set of rules governing the design of buildings is presented, one rule being a uniform height of buildings. The reason for this set of rules is that overall principles of order are deemed to be necessary to ensure variation in the architectural idiom of the buildings ...

'The entry suggests that the protected lakes be transformed so that they become part of the restructured area ...

'The use of water surfaces as a basic structural element is fascinating, since a positive element is thus used to guarantee the retention in time of the idea underlying the plan. This is deemed to be a guarantee for the sustainability of the plan.

'This simple and very clear overall approach is the main reason why this project has been awarded a first prize ...'

Second prize Johan De Koning; Netherlands

'The 'Anderson slide box' is a highly competent proposal for a solution to the basic question of how to define and illustrate the city and its future. The problem does not lie in the design of an ideal city, but in creating its framework and gradually uncovering its life, knowing that this calls for continuous, intense commitment and the ability to find and thereby create an urban architecture which is not just reproduction and pastiche.

'This entry is very original, open and humane. It shows substantial future-orientated confidence in democratic urban planning. The entry places very few concrete ties on the area in the form of pivot points, building ratios or building heights. The entry is thus an essential contribution to the debate on urban planning, but is not truly convincing in terms of presentation ...

'The concrete starting point of the entry is the concept of architecture as a frame (slides), not a story or a content. The entry collects the slides around the stations of the City Line, integrating the landscape and the town ...'

1 Orestaden. The results of the ideas competition. An edited version of the jury's report. Published by Orestadsselskabet, Copenhagen, 1995, p7.

2 The chairman was the Minister of Finance and the deputy chairmen, the Mayor of Copenhagen. Other members were the Ministers of Defence and Education, two Copenhagen City Councillors, the Chairman of Orestadsselskabet; the architect members were Manuel de Sola-Morales, Michael Sten Johnson, Jens Kvorning and Steen Hoyer (landscape architect).

3 Orestaden, op cit, p12.