Fjordenhus in Vejle harbor is the first building independently designed by Olafur Eliasson and his studio. The artist's previous projects include a bridge in Copenhagen, the facade of the Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik, one of the summer pavilions of the Serpentine gallery in London, but all of them were made in collaboration with various architectural firms - despite the existence of the Studio Olafur Eliasson design department headed by the architect Sebastian Behmann. However, there are many similar plans in the works now, so all the architectural projects of Eliasson and Behmann are now separated into a special studio Studio Other Spaces (SOS), which has existed de facto since 2014.
Investment company Kirk Kapital has received its headquarters - a "total work of art", which includes Eliasson's art objects specially created for this building, he also created most of the furniture and lighting fixtures. The building stands above the water and is connected to an artificial island with residential and office buildings (part of the Vejle port reconstruction) by a narrow bridge. The first and second floors are public spaces, the three upper tiers are occupied by the offices of Kirk Kapital.
The "organic" composition of a building of four cylinders, without right angles and almost without flat surfaces on the facade, but with many curved openings, is the result of many years of research by Studio Olafur Eliasson in the field of urban space, light and illumination, nature, movement, human feelings. It responds to the ebb and flow of the Vaillefjord, its gleaming surface, the intangible qualities of sunlight that changes with the time of day and year. The building, according to Eliasson, does not have a main facade, it encourages the visitor to move and observe the city and seascape, as well as the sky through the "frames" of its openings - this is how the environment constantly acts as a "co-author" of the project.
Fjordenhus, "House of the Fjord", is staged impressively - above the water, from the nearest building, apart from the "strait", it is separated by a wide plaza. When approaching the harbor from the station, along the main axis of Vejle, the Eliasson building quickly finds itself in the pedestrian's field of vision. At the same time, its cylinders are a reference to elevators, bricks - to warehouses and other industrial structures of the harbor. The external and internal surfaces of the walls are covered with ordinary brick of 15 shades; green and blue glazed bricks are also used in the openings, which enhance the glare thrown by the water. Wood is widely used on the office floors, with huge round plain kilim carpets made to order in Varanasi. Smaller hand-woven carpets have been used in other parts of the building.
