Aarhus Town Hall
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Rådhuspladsen 2
Aarhus
8000 Århus
Denmark
coordinates:
lat 56.1528473, long 10.2034235
Building names(s): Aarhus Town Hall / Århus Kommune
Architect/Designer: Arne Jacobsen
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Other Information:
Completion date: 1941
Function:
Last modified: 4 October, 2009 | Suggested By LT
the influence from asplund on jacobsen was never more obvious than in aarhus town hall, the first of his many town halls and a competition win from 1937.
the building is one long tribute to asplund’s law courts in gothenburg completed the same year and like the law courts, the town hall is a riot of modernist details, a collage of highly individual elements brought together under a great skylight.
the staircase connects main hall and basement. because of a change of level, the basement becomes a regular office floor further down and jacobsen needed a dignified connection. by placing its negative shape as a kind of geometric ornament in the floor, the staircase becomes the view from the surrounding balconies of the atrium, in effect making the floor an interior facade.
the exceptional floor in the main hall shown here is bog oak – oak trees several thousand years old, dug out of swamps and dryed very, very slowly. the wood is nearly fossilized and extremely strong and heavy. since it is difficult to obtain and work with, bog oak is usually only used for ornamental work. it was used here because of wartime shortages in place of a hardwood floor.
together with the extensive brass detailing, the beech and birch wall cladding, the bog oak floor makes for an interior of warm colours, kept in check by the white concrete skeleton.
Officially opened in 1941, the Town Hall was designed by Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller. It houses the city’s administration offices and has been described as a prime example of Scandinavian Functionalist architecture.
The town hall was carefully designed, right down to the smallest details. Even the door handles, the keyholes and the lamps were specially designed for the building. The bracket lamps are made of burnished brass, and their glass shades were custom made . The hallways and balconies are illuminated by bracket lamps, while suspended light are used in the offices and larger public rooms. The lettering on the signs used throughout the building is based on the Grotesque font.
The contract to design the furniture/furnishings for Århus Town Hall was one of the first contracts awarded to Hans J. Wegner, who went on to become a world famous furniture designer. In designing the interiors, furniture and other details, he worked closely with the chief architects for the project.