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BIG Designs Yin-Yang Shaped Panda Enclosure for the Copenhagen Zoo

BIG, in collaboration with Schønherr Landscape Architects and MOE, has revealed designs for a new yin-yang-shaped panda enclosure at the Copenhagen Zoo that will serve as the new home of two Chinese giant pandas upon their arrival in 2018.

Located between several existing buildings, including the award-winning Elephant House by Foster + Partners, the circular shaped habitat will be split to create separate enclosures for the male and female pandas; to increase the probability of mating, partnered pandas should not be able to see, hear or even smell each other for the majority of the year.

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WE architecture + Erik Juul's Urban Garden and Housing to Provide Turning Point for Copenhagen's Homeless

WE Architecture + Erik Juul have been awarded a commission to transform a vacant lot at Jagtvej 69 in Copenhagen into a urban garden and housing structure that could provided temporary accommodation for homeless people, helping them to turn their lives around.

The architects describe the project as a place “where housing and green gardens [create] a platform for the meeting between locals and homeless, and a path for a new beginning.”

WE architecture + Erik Juul's Urban Garden and Housing to Provide Turning Point for Copenhagen's Homeless - Garden, Facade, StairsWE architecture + Erik Juul's Urban Garden and Housing to Provide Turning Point for Copenhagen's Homeless - FacadeWE architecture + Erik Juul's Urban Garden and Housing to Provide Turning Point for Copenhagen's Homeless - Image 4 of 4WE architecture + Erik Juul's Urban Garden and Housing to Provide Turning Point for Copenhagen's Homeless - Image 11 of 4WE architecture + Erik Juul's Urban Garden and Housing to Provide Turning Point for Copenhagen's Homeless - More Images+ 7

Watch How JAJA Co-Founders of Park ‘n’ Play are Redefining Public Space

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“Who would’ve thought a parking garage could be so interesting?”

In this video aired by the Louisiana Channel, Kathrin Susanna Gimmel and Jan Yoshiyuki Tanaka, both co-founders of Copenhagen-based firm JAJA Architects, explain the ideology behind the “Park ‘n’ Play” parking garage. Bright red, atop the 24-meter high car park, sits a playground which, in combination with a rooftop garden, provides a unique public setting offering sought after views of the Copenhagen harbor. Watch the video for more insight into JAJA’s design methodology and how the playground helps redefine roles of public space and usage while integrating into a historical urban identity.

Kvæsthus Pier / Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects

Kvæsthus Pier  / Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects - Public ArchitectureKvæsthus Pier  / Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects - Exterior Photography, Public Architecture, FacadeKvæsthus Pier  / Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects - Public ArchitectureKvæsthus Pier  / Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects - Exterior Photography, Public ArchitectureKvæsthus Pier  / Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects - More Images+ 7

Krøyer Square / Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects + Cobe + LYTT

Copenhagen, Denmark

This Copenhagen Diabetes Center Connects Patients to Nature

The team of COWI A/S, Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects, Mikkelsen Architects, and STED Landscape has been selected to design Copenhagen’s new diabetes center, Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen. Based on the idea of creating a connection to nature, the Center weaves together the indoors and outdoors, in order to stimulate and nurture patients and visitors.

The main entrance to the project faces south to ensure natural lighting, and features a rolling landscape that leads inside, with an in situ poured concrete pathway and landscaped staircases that connect to a public rooftop garden.

On arrival, visitors are greeted by a luscious, rolling landscape leading inside. The area is designed with curiosity in mind – from the outset patients and visitors must feel welcome and enticed to explore.

 This Copenhagen Diabetes Center Connects Patients to Nature - Table, Lighting, Chair This Copenhagen Diabetes Center Connects Patients to Nature - Garden, Fence, Cityscape This Copenhagen Diabetes Center Connects Patients to Nature - Facade, Bench, Chair This Copenhagen Diabetes Center Connects Patients to Nature - Facade, Beam, Chair This Copenhagen Diabetes Center Connects Patients to Nature - More Images+ 9

Conceptual Monument Reveals Truth of Denmark's National Identity

The Pillars is a new monument in the heart of Copenhagen dedicated to informing the public through a combination of national data and artistic beauty. Inspired by other nationally recognized works such as the 10,000 Year Clock in Texas; Mount Rushmore in South Dakota; and the Fühlometer (Feel-o-Meter) in Lindau, Germany, The Pillars encourages both citizens and leaders to understand the facts of their national development.

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Jan Gehl's 5 Rules for Designing Great Cities

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Danish architect Jan Gehl is a world renowned expert in all things related to urban design and public spaces. He obtained this expertise by publishing numerous books, and later, from his consulting firm Gehl Architects that he founded in Copenhagen, his hometown, to make cities for people. The firm celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2016.

PLH Arkitekter Wins Rail Baltica Competition with Arch-Inspired Infrastructural System

PLH Arkitekter has been announced as one of two winners in the international design competition for Rail Baltica, organized by The European Railroad Lines, Ltd. As a part of the European transport network, Rail Baltica will be a multi-modal public transport hub in the Latvian capital of Riga, with a railway bridge crossing the Daugava River.

The focal point of the project will be a train station building “that creates a strong visual identity in the cityscape, strengthening the sense of Riga as a metropolis.” Inspired by the archetypal form of the arch and the Art Nouveau period, the building will feature canopies that resemble arched fern leaves. On the north side of the building, the canopy shape allows for a unique view over the historic city, ideal for travelers entering or leaving the city to create a strong sense of place.

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Watch Bêka and Lemoine's "The Infinite Happiness" – a Documentary Film on BIG's "8 House"

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Update: following the screening period The Infinite Happiness is no longer available to watch on ArchDaily. The full collection of Bêka and Lemoine's films can be viewed on demand, here.

For two days only—between Friday, December 2 and Sunday, December 4—you can watch The Infinite Happiness, part of Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine's Living Architectures series, exclusively on ArchDaily. The film, shot entirely in Copenhagen's "8 House" designed by BIG, follows a group of residents (and passers-by) as they experience life in a contemporary housing block widely considered to embody new models of living.

Bêka and Lemoine's Documentary Film on BIG's "8 House" To Be Screened Exclusively on ArchDaily

Filmmakers Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine, creators of the Living Architectures seminal collection of films on architecture, will screen The Infinite Happinessshot entirely in Copenhagen's "8 House" designed by BIGexclusively on ArchDaily from Friday, December 2 until Sunday, December 4.

Marking the forthcoming release of two DVD box-sets of their entire œuvre (which was acquired by New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 2016) Bêka and Lemoine have, over the course of the Living Architectures project, developed films about and in collaboration with the likes of the Barbican in London, the Fondazione Prada, La Biennale di Venezia, Frank Gehry, Bjarke Ingels, the City of Bordeaux, the Arc en Rêve centre d’architecture, and more. Their goal in this has always been to "democratize the highbrow language of architectural criticism. [...] Free speech on the topic of architecture," Bêka has said, "is not the exclusive property of experts." Their first film, Koolhaas Houselife (2008), has come to embody this unique approach.

Watch The Infinite Happiness on ArchDaily here from December 2 1800GMT.

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Winners Announced in Competition to Design Copenhagen’s First New Church in 30 Years

JAJA Architects has been announced as the winners of an open international competition to design a new parish church in the Sydhavnen (South Harbor) district of Copenhagen. When completed, it will be the first new church built in Copenhagen since 1989.

The competition, organized by The Danish Association of Architects, sought proposals for a 3,200 square meter church to be located on a waterfront site in the revitalized district of Sydhavnen that could be used for a range of religious, social, cultural and musical events. Construction of the church is expected to be completed in 2019.

Continue reading to see the winning proposal as well as several additional entries.

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Humlehaven / White Arkitekter

From the architect. The new plan for Copenhagen’s Carlsberg Byen development embraces the closeness of the old city, and aims to establish a vibrant new neighborhood on the site of a former brewery. White Arkitekter has developed a residential and commercial proposal which responds to the historical urban morphology of Copenhagen while making a literal connection to the old industrial context by utilizing bricks recycled from the demolition of some of it.

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Urban Rigger / BIG

Urban Rigger  / BIG - Exterior Photography, Sustainability, FacadeUrban Rigger  / BIG - Interior Photography, Sustainability, Chair, TableUrban Rigger  / BIG - Exterior Photography, Sustainability, FacadeUrban Rigger  / BIG - SustainabilityUrban Rigger  / BIG - More Images+ 23

  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  680
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2016
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  Danfoss

Brand New Island in Copenhagen Will Act as "Stepping Stone" Between Two Neighborhoods

Danish firm Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects has lead a team comprised of COBE, Sted, and Rambøll in the design of a brand new island in Copenhagen's harbor. Situated in the Kronløb water basin in Nordhavn, the monolithic presence of the Kronløb Island references the geological processes by which the topography of Denmark was formed. The floating new district will include parking facilities, housing, and public spaces.

Studio LOKAL Wins Copenhagen Residential Competition With Hanging Gardens Tower

Denmark-based Studio LOKAL has won the competition for the design of a residential tower in Copenhagen, with The Hanging Gardens, its proposal for a merger of the historic brick buildings of Carlsberg with the concept of a personal garden for each resident.

Located on the site of a former vegetable market, the proposal aims to return to these homegrown roots by encouraging residents to grow their own produce in one of the tower’s gardens. Furthermore, the ground floor of the building will house a farmers market where residents can trade their own produce.

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Copenhagen Named the World's Most Livable City in Metropolis Magazine's 2016 Rankings

Metropolis Magazine has released their 2016 rankings of the world's most "livable" cities. Acknowledging that what makes a city "livable" can often be subjective, the team at Metropolis emphasizes that in creating the list they "focused on the concerns at Metropolis’ core—housing, transportation, sustainability, and culture." The result of this research was last year's top prize-winner Toronto dropping to the number 9 spot and Copenhagen, which last year took the number 4 spot, jumping to the top. Rounding out the top three are Berlin and Helsinki.

Foster + Partners Breaks Ground on Pharmaceuticals Headquarters on Copenhagen Waterfront

Foster + Partners has broken ground on the new headquarters for Ferring Pharmaceuticals A/S in Copenhagen, Denmark. Located on the urban fringe of Copenhagen in Kastrup, the 39,000-square-meter project occupies a waterfront site along the Øresund crossing between Copenhagen and Malmö near the Copenhagen International Airport.

With this location and neighborhood of predominantly low-rise development, the new company offices will feature expansive views towards Malmö and the Swedish coast, where the company was founded.