COBE . MVRDV

Danmarks Rockmuseum . Roskilde

COBE . MVRDV

The ROCKmagnet consists of three iconic buildings hovering over the existing concrete halls of Musicon, an old concrete factory, juxtaposing old and new. The three new buildings house Denmark’s Rock Museum, Roskilde Festival Højskole (Folk High School) student housing, and Roskildegruppen. The existing halls will be the “communal house” of the ROCKmagnet, containing the three participants' public and common facilities – a village of boxes connecting the elements of the ROCKmagnet.

The ROCKmagnet buildings constitute a “band” playing on top of the halls. The three band members of the ROCKmagnet complement each other like the cornerstones of rock's traditional power trio comprising guitar, bass and drums. The rock museum is performing as the lead singer of the band. It’s a glittering icon facing the plaza, and extended by a long and prominent red carpet into Rabalderstræde – the main street of Musicon. The foyer of Denmark’s Rockmuseum functions as a stage for concerts and performances towards the halls and the plaza. A 24 meter cantilever containing the exhibition hovers over the stage, creating a covered space in the plaza and forming a ceiling for technical equipment, lighting and sound. By designing the rock museum as a stage, the Rock Museum is lifted from a position of a historical archive to a living piece of rock history!

The Rockmagnet will be part of the Free Zone – the center of an urban transformation of a former concrete factory, Unicon, into a creative neighborhood, Musicon.It is the open UN-planned, IN-consistent, UN-finished and A-typical character of Musicon that is the most important quality of the area today. This quality shall not only be preserved, but even strengthened by the future development. The development of the Free Zone is based on 6 simple play rules that will enhance creativity and change:

1. RESERVE! Openess = Creativity. The Free zone is organized around The Free Plaza. The Free Plaza will be Musicon's identity providing arena for temporarymor initiatives, spatial experiments and impromptu events.

2. PRESERVE! Keep and strengthen the rough atmosphere, postindustrial tracks and existing qualities of the abandoned concrete factory.

3. DENSIFY! What is not reserved or preserved is densified into vibrant neighborhood with intimate spaces contrasting the The Plaza.

4. MIX! Enhance contradictions and diversity through a mix of functions, building typologies, scales and space.

5. SHARE! Create public spaces, not roads. The ground surfaces are kept shared space for pedestrians, bikes and vehicles, to allow free flow and low speed.

6. ACTIVATE! The Free Zone shall be an active and open neighborhood, with open facades in eye level, public and extroverted functions in ground floor.

The Rockmagnet
Location: Roskilde, DenmarkClient: Danmarks Rockmuseum in collaboration with Roskilde Festival Højskole and RoskildegruppenProgram: Rockmuseum, folk high school and offices, and urban masterplanSize: 10.881 m2Status: 1st prize in competition 2011Collaborators: MVRDV, LIW Planning, Arup London, Wessberg and Transsolar Energietechnik

The ROCKmagnet consists of three iconic