An urban guide to Copenhagen, the UNESCO World Capital of Architecture

02.09.2023 - 10:23 / wanderlust.co.uk / Art

As the coolest kid on the Scandi block, Copenhagen has it all: good looks, smarts and influence that far exceeds its size. Where else can you dive straight into a once-polluted inner-city harbour, ski down an eco-friendly power plant or cycle across a ‘Circle Bridge’ designed by art-world superstar Olafur Eliasson? While not short on cobbled streets and fairy-tale palaces, Denmark’s capital is a metropolis of the future – a clean, green marvel of electric-powered ferries and cutting-edge architecture as striking as it is sustainable.

This year is a big one for Copenhagen. In January, it kicked off its three-year term as the UNESCO-UIA ‘World Capital of Architecture’. To celebrate, the city is serving up a bumper programme of special events, including talks, tours and exhibitions, many of them hosted at the Danish Architecture Center (DAC). Located inside Rem Koolhaas’ iconic BLOX building, the centre recently debuted its own inaugural permanent exhibition, So Danish, an interactive survey of Danish architecture from Viking times to the present. It’s a fitting addition to a city that has given the world architectural design deities such as Modernist Arne Jacobsen and of-the-moment star Bjarke Ingels. The works of both are featured on the free DAC app, which offers themed self-guided tours of Copenhagen’s most fascinating buildings. Among these are Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint’s ecclesiastical masterpiece Grundtvigs church, Schmidt Hammer Lassen’s showstopping ‘Black Diamond’ Royal Library extension and 3XN’s shimmering, whirlpool-inspired Den Blå Planet aquarium.

Across town, Designmuseum Denmark is back in business after a two-year facelift led by OEO Studio. Packed with cult-status objects by greats including Kaare Klint – the grandfather of modern Danish furniture – its refreshed galleries are hosting a string of out-of-the-box exhibitions. These include Little Table, Cover Thyself!, an exploration of table settings from the Renaissance to the present, and Wonder, a Wunderkammer-inspired display of the museum’s oldest and rarest curiosities. Both are due to run until December 2025.

Copenhagen is a master at revitalising the old – a skill you can see runs across the urban landscape. For example, a decommissioned shipyard in harbourside Refshaleøen is now one of the capital’s coolest neighbourhoods, serving global street food in upcycled shipping containers and showcasing world-class installation art in a former welding hall.

West of the city centre, the former Carlsberg brewery complex is even busy being transformed into Copenhagen’s newest epicentre of hip, with an ever-expanding cache of on-point boutiques, eateries and bars. Add to all this one of the world’s most innovative dining scenes, 546km of