Gemini Residence

MVRDV

Copenhagen, Islands Brygge 32

(1963) 2001 – 2005

Gemini Residence

There are a lot of interesting buildings in Copenhagen, such as the BIG buildings, the aquarium, the Jewish Museum and the Bella Sky Hotel. This item deals with the Gemini Residence, an apartment complex. The name comes from the Italian translation of the zodiac sign Gemini. A reference to the two silos that served as the base.

Silo

From the outside you can only see the old silos at the foot of the building. The apartments are on the outside of the original silos. The concrete tubes were built in 1963 and were part of the Dansk Soyakagefabrik, a company that processed soybeans. In 1990 this location closed.

MVRDV

The designers of the 84 apartments are MVRDV, the Dutch architectural firm known for the Markthal in Rotterdam. On their website you will find another video clip of this project. The best thing about the silos is the large void inside. Because of this, and because it is not that easy to make large holes in the outside, they have chosen to hang the apartments on the outside. The round shape and the windows of the apartments that extend from floor to ceiling give you a wonderful view of the city and the surrounding area.

Lobby

The silos are concrete cylinders of 42 meters high and 25 meters in diameter. The apartments hang on the outside, so that the inside is completely free for accessibility. There are stairs, lifts and corridors in the cylinder. At the top a transparent roof that brings a lot of light into the lobby. The silos are connected to each other on each floor. The floor plan looks like the infinity symbol.