The Art Newspaper

Eliasson to build bridge in Copenhagen

Artist wants pedestrians to come as close the the water as possible

By Clemens Bomsdorf. Web only
Published online: 21 October 2009

copenhagen. Olafur Eliasson, who co-designed the 2007 Serpentine Pavilion in London, will once more try his hand as an architect. The mayor of Copenhagen, Ritt Bjerregaard, has asked the Danish-Icelandic artist to design a bridge for the Danish capital, to be built in the heart of the city leading over the Christianshavn Kanal. It will connect an area dominated by office buildings designed by Henning Larsen with the headquarters of sugar producer Danisco. Describing his plans for the bridge, Eliasson said that he wants pedestrians crossing the river to come as close to the water as possible, and that he would like to make the structure partly transparent. The artist has worked on several projects that combine the fields of art and architecture. For example, he designed part of the façade of the Reykjavík concert hall, currently under construction, and created a honey-comb screen and light installation for the foyer of the Oslo Opera House. The Copenhagen bridge is estimated to cost around DKK25m and will be partly funded by an earlier donation from the bank Privatbanken, made in 1967 and never used. No schedule for construction has yet been made public.