The version of Bjarke Ingels' workshop turned out to be the best among the works of seven Scandinavian bureaus participating in a closed competition, among which was also Snohetta.
The National Gallery will be built on the seashore in the town of Nuuk - the administrative center of the island, which is a province of Denmark. The architects chose a geometric figure - a ring - and projected it onto a rocky seashore gently sloping down to the water. So the future exhibition center acquired the form of a “melted” three-dimensional ring, merged with the relief and “akin” to the local nature: its connection with the landscape reminds of a glacier or a snowdrift. According to Bjarke Ingels, this approach was chosen as the opposite of the usual functionalist architecture for the island - laconic block buildings without any organic elements - and after all, life in such harsh conditions is possible only in symbiosis with nature.
Inside the building with an area of 3000 m2, there is an open courtyard, the space of which is designed in the form of terraces, the widest of which will be a sculpture garden. Due to the lowering relief and, accordingly, the profile of the building, Nuk and the surrounding area will be visible from the upper part of the courtyard.
The gallery's rounded plan will make the route of the inspection as clear as possible: visitors will enter through the mezzanine floor, then pass through the auditorium to the exhibition halls, and then return to the exit. The tiers will be connected by a staircase and a ramp.
N. F.
