Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter has won a competition to design a landmark urban sculpture in Aarhus Harbour, a new district in Denmark's second largest city. The tower, shaped like a "sharp origami cut," is designed to "celebrating vision and social encounters at the edge of the water." Made of welded steel plates, the structure will be manufactured in a shipyard before being sailed to site.
A staircase connects the ground to the top of the tower, cantilevered 7.5m from the floor, offering "magnificent panoramic views of the harbour and the bay." The journey culminates at "a spacious and sheltered viewing platform above the treetops of the boulevard."
The jury stated that "from a distance the dynamically shaped composition will become a strong focal point for this new part of the city. At close encounter the tower will be a generous and hospitable place for the new area, stimulating citizens to take rest."
This winning design, from a competition that attracted submissions from Bjarke Ingels Group, Scmidt Hammer Lassen, and Cebra Architects, is set to be completed in 2014.
