City Hall Square, Copenhagen

Rådhuspladsen with Palace Hotel and the City hall

The City Hall Square (Danish: Rådhuspladsen) is a public square in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark, located in front of the Copenhagen City Hall. Its large size, its central location and its affiliation with the city hall make it a popular venue for a variety of events, celebrations and demonstrations. It is often used as a central point for measuring distances from Copenhagen.

The City Hall Square is located at the southwestern end of the pedestrian street Strøget which connects it to Kongens Nytorv, the other large square of the city centre, passing Gammeltorv/Nytorv and Amagertorv along the way. Opposite Strøget, Vesterbrogade extends into the Vesterbro district and later crosses the border to Frederiksberg. H. C. Andersens Boulevard, Copenhagen's most heavily congested street, and Vester Voldgade pass the square on either side of the city hall.

Apart from the City Hall, notable buildings around the square include Politikens Hus, the headquarters of national daily newspaper Politiken, and Industriens Hus, the headquarters of the DI.

History

Hay market and exhibition area

The hay market in 1809. Painting by C. W. Eckersberg

The City Hall Square is located at the site of Copenhagen's old hay market and the Western City Gate with surrounding fortifications.[1]

When the fortifications were disbanded in the 1850s, it was decided to use the vacant land for an exhibition area which played host to first the Nordic Exhibition of 1872 and later the Nordic Exhibition of 1888.[1]

View east along tram tracks toward Strøget in 1970.

Vilhelm Klein designed an exhibition building for the first exhibition which was built at the corner of Vesterbro Passage which was built from 1870 to 1872. The four-winged, two-storey building was built in red brick to a design which was inspired by Italian Renaissance architecture. In 1879 the centre of the complex was re-built into a large domed exhibition hall.

Nyrop's domed exhibition building from 1889

On 1 January 1888 the hay market moved to a new location outside Kødbyen, the new cattle and meat market which had opened in 1878. The site is still named Halmtorvet after it. The main venue of the Nordic Exhibition of 1888 was a large timber structure topped by a huge dome with a flag pole at its top. Its architect was the young and unknown Martin Nyrop who was later also to design the new city hall.

Aerial view of the square at night, 2008

The new city hall and its square

In the 1880s, plans were conceived to build a new city hall on the grounds, and in 1888, the expo area was cleared. An architecture competition was held in early 1889. Apart from Nyrop, who won the competition, Vilhelm Dahlerup and Valdemar Koch were among the participating architects.[1] The design of the city hall was greatly inspired by the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, Italy, and the design of the square was accordingly modeled on the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo outside that building.[2]

On 28 July 1894, the foundation stone was laid. When it was inaugurated in 1905, the square in front of it became one of the most central and important spaces of the city.

The square was redesigned in 1995 and 1996 by KHR Architects, on the occasion of Copenhagen being the European Capital of Culture. The intersecting street leading from Vesterbrogade to Strøget was removed, uniting the two sides of the square. A bus hub was built on the northern side of the square.[2]

In 2010, work began on a new metro station on the site, requiring a major reorganisation of the site, with work expected to last until 2018.[3]

Sculptures

The Weather Girl with her bicycle

Description

Aerial view of the square in May 2014 with construction of new metro station under way.

The square's central area is 9800 m².[2] It is often a venue for demonstrations and buskers, and several bars and nightclubs are located in the vicinity. Rådhuspladsen also houses one of the city's bus centrals.

Trivia

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rådhuspladsen.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Rådhuset og Rådhuspladsen". Selskabet for Københavns Historie. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
  2. 1 2 3 Gehl, Jan; Gemzøe, Lars (1996). Public Spaces, Public Life, Copenhagen. The Danish Architectural Press and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. pp. 23, 93. ISBN 877 407 305 2.
  3. "Rådhuspladsen". Copenhagen Municipality. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  4. "En særpræget vejrudsigt". DMI. Retrieved 2009-11-08.

External links

Coordinates: 55°40′33″N 12°34′9″E / 55.67583°N 12.56917°E / 55.67583; 12.56917

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, January 31, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.