Bjarke Ingels’s splicing of power plant and ski slope confirms the Danish architect’s transition from enfant terrible to global brand
If you look out from the summit of Copenhagen’s new-made alp, you see a landscape of artifice – wind turbines, the bridge to Sweden, the sea canalised into old docks and harbours, the city itself, all set against a level horizon with which the thing on which you are standing is, at 85 metres high, in notable contrast. Around is ex-industry awaiting regeneration. Diggers are clawing at the bulky wreck of a nearby decommissioned waste-to-energy power station, its replacement being housed inside the aforesaid aluminium-clad and concrete-framed alp.
Below you a slice of replica Swiss meadow swoops steeply down, then veers left and out of sight. Its grass grows through a green plastic mesh, the brush-like finish of which gives the same coefficient of friction as snow. Which means you can ski down it, even when it’s verdant. Knobbly concrete tracks, for people who like running up and down mountains, wind through vegetation, with flues and extracts popping up here and there. An external climbing wall rises the full height of the main structure. A glass-walled lift, for those who like to take the easier route to the top, offers glimpses of mighty machines inside.
Read more: theguardian.com
