A tour of new architecture in Orestad Syd

We having been dragging friends and family to see the 8 House and other notable building projects in the new city of Orestad for a few years now. But on Sunday, we went on a tour professionally-led by the Danish Architecture Center of the city's southern section, and now have some more info to match our amazement (http://www.dac.dk/da/service-sider/kalender/).

Tour group under Metro in Orestad with Ramboll building in background

The city has roots going back to the 1930s, when talk first began creating a rail-link between Copenhagen and southern Sweden, and the implications that would have for development in the Kastrup/ Amager Faelled area south of the city. By the time the Oresund Bro linking Denmark and Sweden opened in 2000 (http://uk.oresundsbron.com/page/976), metro lines and city plans for Orestad were already in place on a former military site. A Finnish-Danish design group was selected and established a plan which included mixed educational, commercial, housing and cultural sites in a series of bands moving out from the metro line and incorporating three new urban centers. Green building practices were an important standard and all buildings were to be 600 meters or less from a metro entrance.

After a much longer and better explanation of the larger plan than the one I just gave, out tour group moved on to the front of the corporate headquarters of Ramboll - a firm that was very much involved with building the Oresundbro and other large engineering projects in Scandinavia.

Mirrored sky on the facade of the Ramboll building, Orestad

As it was a Sunday morning, the building was closed and we had to peek into the soaring lobby through glass doors. The tour guide informed us that on weekdays all the buildings in the area were open to the public and generally receptive to visitors.

Next up was Copenhagen Towers, which is just across the street. So far just Phase I of the four phases this project, designed by Norman Foster and Danish partners, has been built. This phase constitutes the Crowne Plaza Hotel Copenhagen Towers, which has been distinguished as the greenest hotel in the world. Among other features, the south and western sides are lined with solar panels, they utilize ground water versus geothermal systems for air-heating and cooling, the shampoo containers are biodegradable within three months, and guests can give back to the grid when they spin on one of the bikes in the fitness center. Apparently this is one of the buildings that is particularly receptive to visitors, as they have a Walk of Sustainability throughout the building with QR codes directing you to info about their sustainability practices.

Crowne Plaza Hotel Copenhagen Towers lined with solar panels

The next stop for the group was in the middle of a field, buzzing with late summer yellow-jackets, where Denmark's largest multi-use stadium complex would be standing by 2015.

Future site of Hannemann's Quarter and Arena, with Orestad city in the backgorund

Our guide distributed maps which outlined all the development planned for this area over the next several years, including housing, schools, businesses, sports fields and a gigantic arena complex linked to the Metro lines and trains to Sweden. Thus far, only the Phase I of Copenhagen Towers, on the upper right of the map (left of the metro line) had been built.

Plan for development of Orestad Syd

We continued southward on a path through the field till we hit the "Plug n Play" - a temporary playground of sorts designed to attract foot traffic and buzz to this as-yet fully-developed area of Orestad. The Plug 'n Play has an outdoor skating oval and skateboard park, parcours park, all manner of climbing equipment, a kayak bay with water polo, as well as more traditional basketball and soccer areas. Families were unloading kids and equipment while the guide explained all this, so apparently the idea is working.

Entrance to Plug n Play Zone in Orestad Syd

Surrounding this amazing play zone were a number of small garden plots. Anyone can reserve one for a nominal fee, as long as they commit to working it and to abide to organic gardening standards.

Organic garden plots in Orestad Syd

Soon enough we had reached the southernmost point of the development, where seniors' and student housing is going up alongside multilevel parking lots. In keeping with the green standards throughout, the parking spaces planned for this area are at half the normal proportion of slots to other areas of the city. The hope is that most residents will find it more convenient to take the Metro or bike than deal with carrying bags out of a multilevel garage. But I did notice there was 30-minute parking alongside most of the established housing and a surface lot behind the 8 House.

Interior courtyard of the 8 House looking south across the marshes

Which brings us to the 8 House and one of our favorite spots in all of Copenhagen. We came across it the first time in a bike ride around Amager Faelled when it was just going it up. It looked like a ski slope or that horrid Xanadu complex in the Meadowlands of New Jersey. Later on, we found the vimeo featuring architect Bjarke Ingels ( BIG Group) describing the project and how it was conceived: http://vimeo.com/3499612.  And if we ever win the lottery, we will have to buy a unit there.

I won't bore you with my praises here. Just watch the vimeo, look at the few photos I have included and take a chance to visit when you are next in Copenhagen.

View of Viking Ship playground and marshes from atop of the 8 House

Green roofs at southern end of 8 House

Looking into the north courtyard of the 8 House.

The lovely island of Hven

When I showed an American friend this poster for the ferry to Hven, she remarked "Ah, Heaven!" That may be overselling it a tad, but it is a very lovely spot and an excellent day-trip out of Copenhagen. Hven lies in the narrow Oresund strait between Denmark and Sweden, and has at times been Danish, but now is Swedish (see visithven.dk).

Boarding at Havnegade; some folks brought bikes and picnic lunches

We took a 9:15 ferry from Havnegade for the 90 minute trip with about 150 others - mostly Scandinavians. We bought rundstykker and coffee once on board, all the better to enjoy our little table looking out at the sights of Copenhagen harbor, the Oresund bridge, and the coastline north of the city while we motored along.

Oresundbro to Malmo and windfarms seen from the ferry

Once landed, we followed the crowd up a small road to an enormous bike rental stand with every possible combination of regular and tandem bikes, bikes with kid seats and cargo bikes. There was a bus offering a tour at the harbor, but I don't think anyone took it. This was a hearty lot of Danes and Swedish tourists and the exercise was definitely part of the outing, as it was for us. We had decided beforehand to spend the day walking the 11.7 km along the edge of the island, and ended up backtracking down to the Bagvicken harbor to catch the walking trail.

Bike rental stand on Hven

We started walking east, or counter-clockwise, around the island along the coast facing the Swedish mainland. This part of Hven really reminded me of Maine, specifically of Peak's Island in Casco Bay - home to our friend Jenny Higgins and one of the stops on our honeymoon 25 years ago. Needless to say, the coast was a bit rugged and had lots of long wooden piers for bathing. There were cottages alongside the path overlooking the shoreline, with well-kept gardens and cozy picnic tables.

Cottage with hydrangeas on Swedish side of Hven

About midway along this shoreline, we hit Ven's Stugby & Camping - a collection of hytte ( sleeping huts) and camping spots with a common bath area and kitchen. Some families had obviously come over on the ferry with bedding and food all piled up on a trailer and hitched it to a rental bike. Car-free family vacation!

Ven's Stugby and mini-golf ( not a real astronaut)

At the northern end of the island, where the cliffs were steepest and the shoreline rockiest, the path jigged left up a steep gravelly incline. This is where the walking decision paid off as many visitors were struggling both up and down the scrabbly path with their bikes. When we emerged at the top, we were in a gorgeous yellow wheat field - rippling in the wind - with low-lying barns on the horizon. The Swedish-ness of the terrain flipped into a classic Danish landscape and for the second half of the day, and from there on in, the dial pretty much stayed on the Danish side of the terrain and architecture.

Danish husband on Danish side of Hven

At the center of the island are the archaeological remains of astronomer Tycho Brahe's Uranienborg castle and observatory, as well as a Renaissance garden. There is a museum which explains his life and work housed in a beautiful old church, which is the highest point on the island. For a few decades in the middle of the 16th century, Hven was Brahe's fiefdom and he ran a full-scale observatory and entertained intellegentsia from across Europe on this little island. King Christian VI (who did so much to advance Denmark in other ways) undid this arrangement early in his reign, and Brahe removed to Prague and eventually met Kepler...so maybe it was OK in the long run.

Tycho Brahe Museum and garden

At any rate, an interesting historic angle on an island that was well worth visiting even without it.

What's so great about restaurants in Copenhagen

There has been an incredible amount written in the past few years about the new Nordic cuisine, and the restaurant scene in Copenhagen - famously led by NOMA, voted the world's best restaurant for the past three years. We have not yet eaten at NOMA, but have now had a substantial number of outstanding dining experiences in Copenhagen, and I can tell there's more going on than just foraged food. Like the characteristically great Danish design in furniture, household objects and architecture, the greatness in the "new" food comes from a certain elegant minimalism, attention to detail and a respect for the importance of tradition.

A classic Georg Jensen silver water pitcher, for example, grows out of the basic function of the vehicle and  elegantly marries the swell of the water vessel and the angle of the spout with a comfortable handle for the pourer. There is no mistaking what this object is designed to do, but great attention is also paid to the small details. The handle is mahogany, so you are holding a warm organic material and not cold metal. If I had found a better photo of the pitcher, you'd see that the surface is softened by hand-hammering, so you know it is a handmade object. And the beauty of the object respects the fact that serving food and water is an important party of family, and thus community, life -- so it is always worth doing very well. ( Sorry if this analogy ran on a bit long. Hard to put away the art historian in me sometimes).

Danish silver pitcher designed by Johan Rohde for Georg Jensen, Ltd.

The great new restaurants in Copenhagen observe a certain elegant minimalism that is quintessentially Danish. A green salad, or a piece of fish, or a poached egg is prepared and presented in such a way as to bring out the essential flavor of lettuce, or fish or eggs. That isn't to say, that other interesting ingredients aren't a part of this "unveiling" of taste, but they help to pump the flavor and don't get in the way.

Just a few days ago, I told my sceptical daughter that mushrooms take on the flavor of whatever they are cooked in - butter, or wine, or herbs and cream - so she couldn't declare a dislike for them. But the mushroom soup at Geist, http://restaurantgeist.dk/, made me a liar. A clear consomme served in a black bowl without a spoon (" so you put your face right into the smell") was the absolute soul of mushroom flavor in liquid form - earthy and dark.

Also at Geist, we tasted the unusual dish of sauteed almonds with caviar- a stunning plate of pale ovals set off with a teaspoon of shiny black caviar. Each ingredient held its own simple taste and "mouth feel," but you noticed it more through the combination.

At the beautiful Orangeriet, http://www.restaurant-orangeriet.dk/, which is housed in an old greenhouse within the walls of Kongens Have, we ordered a cold tomato and crab soup as a first course. I was expecting something in the gazpacho line, but instead was presented with a  bowl containing three dollops of crabmeat garnished with slices of green tomatoes, elderberries and a few sprigs of herb alongside a small vial of clear golden liquid - the tomato broth. The broth was fresh and understated as ripe tomato flesh, without the oily heaviness of  a typically Italian red tomato sauce. The crab just tasted more of the sea-shore for the light tomato essence.

The devil is in the details. And it is not just the food which is remarkable in the interesting new restaurants here. At Relae,http://restaurant-relae.dk, the tables have a narrow drawer full of utensils and napkins so diners can shift their own cutlery. At Geist, you can choose to sit at a bar overlooking the finishing kitchen so your meal is handed to you almost directly off the stove. You can watch the rhythm of the prep cooks, identify which dish is yours, and it doesn;t need to walk through a set of doors and around tables in a restaurant before you get to eat it. Both shifts in service make sense from the management side, and lend to the informality of the experience.

Relae, and its sibling restaurant Manfreds & Vin, are both on Jaegersborggade, an artsy one-way street in Norrebro that leads right into the incredible Assistens Cemetery (a whole 'nother topic). And both restaurants feature translucent porcelain table votives ("thinware") by neighborhood ceramicist Inge Vincents ( http://vincents@dk). May seem like a small thing, but using locally sourced artwork on your table is right up there with locally sourced produce in my book. (Organic and local is a given in most of these restaurants, BTW, not even worth mentioning out loud) And Vincents' ceramics perfectly capture the character of the food - minimal, elegant, innovative and extremely honest.

As for tradition, many of the dishes that are being served in Copenhagen are interesting twists on centuries-old Scandinavian dishes. No French fillips, or startling Thai spices - but respect for the foods and the food combinations that have always been important in this corner of the world. At Orangeriet, we had bread-fried mackerel that was a perfect nod to the oldest and most basic fare imaginable in Nordic regions - mackerel on bread. Except that Orangeriet smeared the fresh mackerel with rye bread dough on one side and then pan-fried it - so the fish and the bread were cooked into each other.

At Kodbyens Fiskebar, http://fiskebaren.dk/, the most classic combo imaginable - fishroe, onion and potato - were given an amazingly delicious and almost painterly re-make with teeny tiny chopped red onion and chive, dollops of creme fraiche, a bouquet of mixed greens and shoots and a see-through thin oblong of crispy potato (an artisanal potato chip). Other dishes were similar remixes - gorgeous thin-sliced laks, sauteed scallops, cod - all the things you'd expect on a Scandinavian table, but creatively dressed and presented with beautiful sprigs of greenery that you might find in a Danish field, and that carry the same freshness.

For all the buzz in the States and elsewhere about the new Nordic cuisine, I think it is going to be hard for it to travel well as it is so engrained in the character, workmanship and traditions of Scandinavian culture. But should be fun to watch others try.