Cowi . Steven Holl Architects

The Natural History Museum . Copenhagen

Steven Holl Architects

This entry features three distinct building elements.

The most spectacular is a basin on top of a new underground building between the Sølvtorv Complex and the Geological Museum. At the centre, there are facades towards the garden and Sølvgade because of a slope in the terrain. There is a passage between the Botanical Garden and Østre Anlæg at both ends of the basin. Although water could be categorised as a landscape element, the overall impression remains urban. Combined with the interrupted visual connection between Sølvgade and the Botanical Garden and the cumbersome path across the basin, the physical and perceived connections between Østre Anlæg and the Botanical Garden are weakened in this scheme.
The second visible element proposed is a glass pavilion with a cur ved roof located to the north of the Sølvtorv Complex that invites museum visitors to enter the main entrance to the museum. The third element is a triangular building with a gr een roof located to the south of the Sølvtorv Complex. This building has a secondary garden
entrance at its eastern corner. None of the three elements builds on the idiom of the garden and, with the exception of the entrance pavilion, they do not seem to help create coherence or any synergy effects together with existing features. A service courtyard is proposed as a continuation of Building 5 towards Øster Farimagsgade, which unfortunately means that an important opportunity to connect the Botanical Garden with this part of Øster Farimagsgade is squandered.
Jury report

Cowi + Steven Holl Architects, New York
Project team: Steven Holl, Chris McVoy, Noah Yaffe, Garrick Ambrose,
Martin Kropac, Yichen Lu, Gary He
Consultans
Guy Nordenson and Associates
Transolar
Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates