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ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum
The new art museum
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Art on five storeys
takes its bearings on the future
The new art museum in Aarhus, Nyt Aarhus Kunstmuseum, has been in the pipeline for a long time, but when it is opened in August 2003, any problems and difficulties will certainly be forgotten.
Whether the time it has taken is due to the staid nature of the people of Jutland one cannot say. A positive explanation might be that if the architectural and functional qualities of a project are to be judged by posterity, it should be given the necessary consideration.
Maybe this is the chief explanation as to why the new art museum has been in the planning for so long. As was also the case with, among others, the Concert Hall Aarhus and the new sports hall, the Arena.
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When the ten-storey art building is ready for its inauguration in August 2003, the general opinion will, however, probably be that it has been well worth waiting for this new addition to the cultural life of Western Denmark.
The completed 17,700-square-metre museum will have cost its Aarhus owners, who are cooperating with the County of Aarhus and the existing art museum Aarhus Kunstmuseum, 300 million Danish kroner.
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Working with a budget of this size has naturally contributed to prolonging the planning process, and it has only been because of the tireless efforts of the museum’s director, Jens Erik Sørensen, that the project has been realised. Yet another typical example of the Jutland mentality!
In addition to the financial aspects, the location of Nyt Aarhus Kunstmuseum near the Concert Hall, the Town Hall and the Congress Centre has also been subject to differing opinions in the local debate. |
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The winning project from the firm of architects Schmidt, Hammer & Lassen – chosen out of 110 proposals from Danish and international architects – is, however, to a large extent based on the hilly site where the future museum is now materialising.
The winning project from the Aarhus firm is characterised by a simple, cubic shape with the tall building centrally located on the sloping site with entrances which, in terms of town planning, create a connection between the city’s old quarters along the river and the green areas near the Concert Hall and the Town Hall.
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From north to south, two ramps will lead visitors into the building’s light-filled foyer from where a spiral staircase and two elevators give the public easy access to all art exhibitions and service functions. Besides the architectural elements, the intention has been to create a functional building which offers an exciting framework for people meeting art. Three times bigger than the existing museum in the park Vennelystparken, the new art museum offers art on five floors. The layout is based on a new concept which allows visitors to choose their preferred art form from the moment they enter the building. This could, for example, be a choice between the golden age on the top floor, the more challenging contemporary art in the middle of the building or the "Nine Rooms", the name of a dark underground gallery in the basement where the idea is that nine artists from around the world will exhibit special installation works in each of the rooms. Offering different types of activities, a junior museum will be an innovative adition, whereas older museum visitors can enjoy the view from a rooftop restaurant. There is therefore no doubt that Aarhus will get an art museum of international calibre which is rooted in the past and at the same time takes its bearings on the future.
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