Scotland, Europe, the world
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Building Society
Furniture, homes and museums. Everywhere you look, the Danes have designs to die for. m; Moira Jeffrey
t's the wee stnall hours in the morning and I
still ean‘t get to sleep. I'm on the thirteenth
floor of a elassie littropean toys er bloels and I'll be datnned it I‘m going to snoo/e through my short stay here. So I get tip. and lot the hundredth time. start suiyelling on my elassie Arne Jaeobsen Sn an ehair. play uith the atnbient light switehes and look otit aeross Copenhagen. For a trip dedieated to the ieons ol' Danish design. this is the perl'eet plaee to start. I may not look like a Bond (iirl. btit here in my
pyjamas surrounded by the elassie l'urniture ol'
the (itls. I sure as hell l‘eel like one.
.laeobsen was the greatest Danish arehiteet ol‘
his generation and this hotel. The Radisson SAS
‘Good design is an
that the eity's residents \\ ere \torried it \\t)tlltl ney er stay tip. They shouldn‘t haye l‘retted. Some 4| years later. the building has retnained sturdin upright and its elassie interior. meddled \sith in the 70s and 80s. has been glorioust reinstated. liyery tiny detail iron] the door handles to the bathroom taps is a .laeobsen design elassie. liaeh room has a Swan ehair and the lobby boasts a seleetion ol‘ leather—clad liggs (the ma] baeked artnehairs that \\ ere an essential ingredient ol‘ e\ery sell-respeeting baehelor pad).
The eonlident spaee age Royal Hotel shottld be only one stop among many lor the .laeobsen lan. Heading north out of the eity. l \isited
essential
part of mainstream Iife.’
Royal. eompleted in Not). eley en years bel‘ore his death. was his tribute to the optimism ol‘ the period. At 22 floors. it \s as the tallest building in Seandinayia — 'a landmark ot' the jet age'
\\ here you eottld eheek-in your luggage tor your
flight home from the comfort ol‘ its ea\et‘notts lobby.
Built for the airline 8A5. its lagade ol~ glass and grey-green panels relileets the sky. gismg the building a slightly liail quality .so moth so that ill IUS‘). a ('openhagen newspaper 'ssrote
122 THE LISY
ls'lantpenborg. a seaside neighbourhood \sltielt boasts [no “line shorelront deyelopments Bellayista and Belleuie -- \thieh the arehiteet built in WRZ. It‘s a \sonderl’ttl l‘unetionalist housing seheme on a tiny seale. boasting its own neighbourhood restaurant and theatre. The Restaurant .laeobsen remains a homage to its LTCLIlUl.
l-rom the outside. its a little like a minimalist Standinasian \eision ol' \ardini‘s at l.args. but
the tut deeo stseep ot its l‘rontage is set ol'l‘
travel@list.co.uk
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Kubrick meets the Guggenheim at the National Library.
against an intitnate. lt)\\ key interior. 'l‘he \\;tlls are htmg \sith arehiteetttral prints and you ean lounge in l'ront ol' the open lire reading a series ol‘ eol'lee table html's. Although beautil'ully maintained. the building still shous pleasing little signs ol‘ \year and tear: this is no museum pieee bttt a \torking restaurant and an ideal plaee to ha\e a long luneh looking aeross the bay touards Sueden.
Restaurant .laeobsen. like many oi the eity‘s best buildings. is httng unit design elassies by another Danish great. l’oul llenningsen. 'l‘his late at'ehiteet. “titer and lighting designer
L'l'L‘lllL‘tl a series ()l- P” lamps which are letins ()l~
utilitarian modernity. Designed l'rom WIS tin\\ttl'tls. \sith many still tnanttlaettiretl today by l,ottis l’attlsen ol~ ('openhagen. these intrieate altttninitttn eonstrttetions were the result til at lilt‘lllllds researeh into illumination. They‘re so el'l‘eetise in proxiding strong but sol’t light that you‘ll see them ex ery \\ here. l‘rom a domestie kitehen to a sehool or goyeinment ol‘liee.
This is a eity uhere good design is not just about museums or posh hotels. In egalitarian Denmark. design isn't just the proyinee ol' the
rieh and lamotis or the aspirational reader of
ll'u/l/mpt'r maga/ine. (iood design is an essential part of mainstream lil'e. l-‘rom your etttlery to your eol'l‘ee ettp. to your Bang and ()lulsen stereo you'll lind a design elassie. But it. like me. you reyel in suanning around a skyseraper hotel room. this is a great plaee to do it.