VM Houses / VM Mountain

BIG + JDS

Copenhagen, Orestad Boulevard 57-59 / 55

2004-2005 / 2008

Copenhagen

A few weeks ago we made a city trip to Copenhagen, a birthday present! As usual, a plan indicated what I absolutely wanted to see and where we could eat (hamburgers). Architectural gems were only looked up on the spot with the book “Guide to new architecture in Copenhagen” from the DAC (Danish Architecture Center). So it was a little stress in the evening to prepare the perfect route for the following days. The most contemporary buildings are in Orestad, south of the city. So we went there on a Tuesday morning.

BIG + JDS

Two well-known designs are in the northern part of Orestad: VM houses and VM mountain. Both designed by BIG and JDS, therefore discussed together in one blog post. BIG is Bjarke Ingels Group and JDS Architects led by Julien De Smedt. Bjarke Ingels was born in Denmark and Julien De Smedt is born in Brussels. Both got to know each other at OMA / Rem Koolhaas in Rotterdam. In 2001 they started the PLOT architecture firm in Copenhagen. They got international recognition with their designs, but they each decided to go their own way in 2006. Both buildings that we discuss below were still developed by both architects.

VM Houses

This complex was the first built in Orestad. VM houses owes its name to the floor plan of the two buildings in the form of a V and an M, which can be viewed on Google Earth. It was inspired by Le Corbusier’s “Unité d’Habitation” concept. Emphasis was placed on daylight, privacy and visibility. Each apartment has a diagonal view of the surrounding fields. Corridors were kept as short as possible. In total, the two buildings have 209 units, 80 of which are different types. There is no use of partition walls, each apartment consists of 1 room. In this way the owner can organize and change his space himself. Sometimes there are also apartments on different floors.

Triangular terraces

The most photographed detail is the balconies on the V-building. These are in triangular form to block as little light as possible to the adjacent apartments. Bjarke Ingels himself lived in the complex until 2008, when he moved to VM Mountain.

VM Mountain

VM mountain contains 80 apartments and a parking garage for 480 cars. The program consisted of 1 / 3rd residential units and 2 / 3rd parking. This concept has been worked out in a sort of slope, so that each apartment becomes a penthouse on top of the parking garage. Each accommodation unit has a terrace on the roof of the adjacent apartment. The parking garage uses colors that Verner Panton also used in his work as a tribute to this Danish designer. The space of the parking garage also serves as an atrium and access to the apartments. The northern and western façades are decorated with a 3000 m² image of the Himalayas, printed on aluminum. Due to the concept of the slope, the lift also had to be tilted. Below a video of this sloping elevator and you can also see some colors of the parking.