STATUS
COMPLETED
CLIENT
Henning G. Kruses Fond
TYPOLOGY
Public Realm
SIZE M2/FT2
1,000 / 10,764
SHARE
Esbjerg, a port city on the west coast of Denmark has long invested in cultural projects to make life more enjoyable for its residents. The new city square, Henning G. Kruses Plads designed by BIG Landscape is the latest example of creating a more lively public realm in Denmark’s fifth largest city.
Conceived as an extension of the local concert hall, Musikhuset, the white interior columns of the venue blend with the new birch trees on the plaza. A cymatic pool at the heart of the square picks up on the music vibrations in the concert venue and creates a gathering place for the locals who can sense the performances inside and outside.
Grid Extension
— The column structure inside Musikhuset Esbjerg is placed in a grid system. The grid system is extended to the plaza.
Sound Wave Pool
— In the center of the modified grid system is a cymatic pool made of stainless steel, which becomes the new main attraction of the plaza.
Birch Trees
— 55 pollen-free birch trees surround the pool, mimicking the white columns of the building and creating a new intimate spatial experience in the plaza.
Henning G. Kruses Plads
— The plaza provides an intimate public space with a 10 m circular basin, surrounded by birch trees. Music from inside Musikhuset Esbjerg creates vibrations and patterns in the water's surface.
”With Henning G. Kruses Plads, BIG’s architects and landscape designers have created a beautiful and functional living space in front of Musikhuset Esbjerg, which in a fantastic way both invites you to stay and enjoy the square, and also invites you inside our dynamic music house. We could not be happier with the result."
“The design is inspired by three elements: the existing architecture in Musikhuset, the music in Musikhuset, and the sea. Combining these considerations in a simple move that creates a gathering place for the city's residents and the visitors of Musikhuset. The cymatic pool is a surprising element - a poetic place for calm and reflection, a place that conveys and represents music like waves, so even kids can understand it.”
The square honors the city’s close ties to the sea. A 10 m round basin in the birch ‘forest’ creates patterns in the water surface through the vibrations of the music from the stages inside the building, or via pre-programmed vibrations, keeping the water constantly in motion.
”The new forecourt for Musikhuset Esbjerg and Esbjerg Kunstmuseum is composed of a number of architectural details designed specifically for the site. The curved steel lines, the circular gratings around the trees, the light posts, the bicycle racks, and the vibrating basin are all designed in 5 mm stainless steel, which stands in subtle contrast to the concrete's hand-brushed surface and the birch trees' white trunks and green crowns. Henning G. Kruses Plads represents a holistic urban 'work of art' on a smaller scale."
The site, which brings together Esbjerg’s old town center and the green city park around the music house, is planted with 55 pollen-free Betula Pendula Birch, which is a particularly robust tree type. All the trees are stemmed at a height of 4-5 m, so that visitors have a clear view of Musikhuset and Kunstmuseet.
Planted in a grid system, the trees align with the lines of the square around the pool respectfully framing Musikhuset’s inner column structure.
Bjarke Ingels David Zahle Matea Mađaroš Milan Moldenhawer Ulla Hornsyld Vladislav Saprunenko Yue Hu Søren Martinussen
COLLABORATORS
Brinck Entrepreneue
Aqua-Teknik A/S
