radisson-Blue Royal Hotel Copenhagen

The Arne Jacobsen hotel Copenhagen design experience

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If you are visiting Copenhagen a great experience for design enthusiasts is a cup of coffee and bit of cake in the cafe of The Radisson Blu Royal Hotel. The hotel, designed by the great Arne Jacobsen, is a wonderful piece of architecture adjacent to Tivoli Gardens and the main train station (Hovedbanegården) in the centre of Copenhagen.

As well as being the architect, Arne Jacobsen designed the interiors and used his famous Swan and Egg chairs.

Radisson-Blu-Royal-Hotel

The cafe entrance is off of Vesterbrogade,  and feels like you are in a 1960’s Instagram filter. I always half expect to see a young Sean Connery in the corner, chain smoking and flirting with a beautiful, peroxide Russian spy, called, well something with a terrible double entendre. The service in the cafe is old fashioned classic style, it is criminally quiet in the afternoons, and getting a window seat is not generally a problem.

The view from the other side of the street is Hard Rock Cafe Copenhagen, which for  some unknown reason is always packed with tourists.

A quick trip through the lobby of the hotel ‘to visit the rest rooms/toilets’ lets you get a look at the Jacobsen Egg chairs and other Jacobsen designed details. There is also a bar in the hotel’s foyer area should you need a martini cocktail…

The most famous example of Jacobsen’s chairs – for anyone British at least – is from the photo with Christine Keeler who is best known from ‘The Scandal’ or ‘The Profumo Affair’. You can read a great article on it here at the V&A’s website. This is their picture.

Christine Keeler Jacobsen chair

radisson blue royal hotel interior

View from the cafe. The young Sean Connery and Svetlannalickalov, just out of picture, having a fag…

If you are looking to stay in the hotel, one bedroom remains in the original condition from 1960, and that is room 606 which you can book.

You can read a bit more here from Wikipedia on the hotel. And here on the great Arne Jacobsen.

Brønshøj Bold Klub

Life as a Brønshøj web designer

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Brønshoj bold klub
Working and living in Brønshøj as a web designer has it’s advantages. Close enough to the City Centre by bike for meeting my city based web design clients, plus with the beautiful natural area of Utterslev Mose close by, not to mention the rather magnificent Brønshøj BK (Danish first division football team) on my doorstep.

Brønshoj design

Brønshøj BK have the most fantastic stadium. Where I grew up in Scotland I followed Highland League football, and it reminds me of one of their stadiums. Which is not an insult. It’s the combination of relaxed atmosphere, and passionate locals in a one stand stadium. Plus the small bars dotted around the pitch, the very definition of hyggeligt! A beer will cost 18DKK for a bottle, and the draft is 30DKK. Entrance is 70DKK.

The stadium recently had new floodlights added which have added even more to the great atmosphere. Getting to Brønshøj stadium is relatively easy using public transport from the city centre, bus 2A from the main station or main square will take you very close. Just ask the driver or another passenger where to get off.
Staalvandet Brønshøj
If you fancy a beer after the match before heading back into the Copenhagen city, there’s Staalvand, a modern, bohemian cafe bar at Brønshøj Torv, and Gert’s Vinstue, a proper Danish pub.

Here is a link to an excellent article by a Swansea supporter on his visit to the stadium, entitled Lost in Brønshøj.

 

 

Torvehallerne KBH, Nørreport market

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Copenhagen marketTorvehallerne KBH, the Nørreport market, situated a few hundred metres from Nørreport Station in central Copenhagen is a vibrant, modern international market well worth a visit should you be visiting Copenhagen. It’s only a couple of years old, built in two modern halls, and features delis and restaurants with high quality food and drink from around the world.

The coffee is great and there is something to eat for every taste.

market-copenhagenFish market Copenhagen

Louisiana thumb

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark

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Louisiana thumb

So it’s a big ‘thumbs up’ for Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Ba dum tss…

If you are visiting Copenhagen, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is one place that must not be missed for those interested in art and design. Situated in the small town of Humlebæk, north Zealand, this gallery is the very best modern art gallery in Scandinavia, and the second most visited pay to enter attraction in Denmark, behind Tivoli fun fair.

Getting to Louisiana from Copenhagen

To get to Louisiana, is a 35 minute train ride from Copenhagen Central Station to Humlebæk – it is on the way to Hesingør. I recommend buying a return ticket with Louisiana entrance included, which knocks a little of the price. It’s about a ten minute walk from the station, it’s well sign posted, and as there is pretty much nothing else in Humlebæk, it’s where everyone else getting off the train is going. The entrance price is at the time of writing 110 Kroner. Which is about 12  British pounds or 20 US dollars.

The Louisiana collection

The permanent collection changes from time to time, subject to the visiting exhibitions. They have some fantastic 20th and 21st century works. An excellent collection of Giacometti sculptures, and if you are lucky with the timing of your visit, there are some great Giacometti drawings too. Yves Klein, Warhol, Dubuffet, Hockney, Rauschenberg, Moore, Bourgeois, Guston, Jorn, Baselitz, Polke, Kiefer and Kirkeby are all featured. They have enough of a fair share of big guns, to guarantee some big guns are always on show.

To see which exhibitions are visiting for your visit check out the Louisiana exhibitions page here.

The Louisiana experience

louisiana-copenhagen Denmark

I’ve taken people to Louisiana not at all interested in art, and they have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. (Believe me, my dear old Dad, would have said!) The building covers a large area and is situated in gardens with amongst others Moore and Miro sculptures dotted around. On a beautiful day the views over The Oresund to Sweden are stunning. There’s a very nice restaurant/cafe with modern Scandinavian sandwiches and cake. You can have a beer or a glass of wine, and it’s a great chance for having a sly look at the Danish and Swedish middle class, in their element. There’s a kids bit too, but as I’ve no kids I can’t vouch for it.

louisiana-art-gallery-denmark

Fun facts

  • The main building, from which the name Louisiana took it’s name, was given the name by a man who had three wives (not at the same time) all these women were named Louise. Louise in Danish is pronounced ‘Louisa’. Hence the name, Louisiana.
  • A number of years ago I  found myself in a sick tent at Roskilde Festival. I got chatting to a big tough looking Dutch guy, with suspected broken ribs. I asked, ‘were you down the front at a concert when it happened?’ He replied, ‘no, I was rolling down the hill at Louisiana yesterday…’
  • The wifi code for Louisiana is, ‘louisiana’.
  • It’s a great place for bumping into thingy from The Killing/The Bridge/Borgen. As out of work actors mingle with the plebs, safe in the knowledge Danes will leave them alone. Janteloven!

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copenhagen-design-louisiana

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