Daniel Libeskind - Danish Jewish Museum

Under construction
Daniel Libeskind
Danish Jewish Museum
Copenhagen, Denmark

Model Photo © Torsten Seidel

The unique context in which the Danish Jewish Museum will find its new home represents a deep historical legacy. As the Royal Boat House built by King Christian IV at the turn of the 17th century, then transformed with the new walls of the Royal Library at the turn of the 20th century, the new use of the building by the Jewish Museum will share in this fascinating tradition.

Photo: arcspace

The Royal Library seen from Proviantgarden. The new Jewish Museum is located to the left on the ground floor.

The intertwining of the old structure of the vaulted brick space of the Royal Library and the unexpected connection to the unique exhibition space creates a dynamic dialogue between architecture of the past and of the future - the newness of the old and the agelessness of the new.

Photo: Arne Kvorning

Photo: arcspace

The proposal by Daniel Libeskind has both urban and architectural aspects. On the urban level it ties together the new library and the old library by activating the pedestrian walk along the Proviantgarden in the interior of the Royal Library courtyard. It does so by proposing that one of its internal planes, Exodus, is here turned to an urban space in which water and a symbolic rowboat dramatically speak to the uniqueness of the survival of the Danish Jewish community.
It communicates the importance of the museum behind its walls. This feature brings the visitor into the internal courtyard entrance which is marked in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions.

Photo: arcspace

On the ground plane the entrance is configured by an ensemble of conversation spaces that will be developed into intimate meeting points for visitors and space for an outdoor cafe in the summer months. The vertical walls are marked by a projection of the Mitzvah configuration whose trace can be followed into the depths of the exhibition.

Model Photo © Torsten Seidel

Once inside the visitor has an easy access to the cafe that is also conceived of as part of the exhibition space and doubles as a projection space.
After entering the exhibition proper, the visitors are in a space constructed of a wooden floor with slightly sloping planes representing the four planes of discourse.
The entire exhibition space is illuminated by a luminous stained glass window that is a microcosm of Mitzvah transforming light across the day.

Photo: arcspace

The space of the museum that integrates the entrance, the cafe and support spaces is unified by the exhibition space that is both written and read like a text within a text within a text. This is a text in which the margins (walls, internal spaces, vitrines, virtual perspectives) play a fundamental role as the peripheral commentaries of the Talmud due to its central text.

Photo: arcspace

The entire space of the exhibition is penetrated by an oblique slope that opens a fifth virtual plane forming surface and a horizon that integrates all the surrounding exhibitions. The surface is used in the exhibition as tables, plinths and vitrines. It is also a visual vector that extends the visitor's experience beyond the walls of the museum. This fifth plane of space acts as a datum orienting the visitors and giving each child and person a scale through which the museum as text becomes legible.

Ground Floor Plan

Photo: arcspace

Completion is estimated late 2003

Total Area: 450 square meters

Structure:
Steel structure clad with plywood

Client:
Danish Jewish Museum

Architect:
Daniel Libeskind

Credits:
Renovation of Galajhuset:
Fogh & F¿lner architects, Denmark

Consulting Engineers:
Hansen & Henneberg

The project will be on view at the Danish Centre for Architecture through September 11, 2003

July 7, 2003

Daniel Libeskind arcspace features





				Features
		Under construction Daniel Libeskind Danish Jewish Museum Copenhagen, Denmark Model Photo © Torsten Seidel The unique context in which the Danish Jewish Museum will find its new home represents a deep historical legacy. As the Royal Boat House built by King Christian IV at the turn of the 17th century, then transformed with the new walls of the Royal Library at the turn of the 20th century, the new use of the building by the Jewish Museum will share in this fascinating tradition. Photo: arcspace The Royal Library seen from Proviantgarden. The new Jewish Museum is located to the left on the ground floor. The intertwining of the old structure of the vaulted brick space of the Royal Library and the unexpected connection to the unique exhibition space creates a dynamic dialogue between architecture of the past and of the future - the newness of the old and the agelessness of the new. Photo: Arne Kvorning Photo: arcspace The proposal by Daniel Libeskind has both urban and architectural aspects. On the urban level it ties together the new library and the old library by activating the pedestrian walk along the Proviantgarden in the interior of the Royal Library courtyard. It does so by proposing that one of its internal planes, Exodus, is here turned to an urban space in which water and a symbolic rowboat dramatically speak to the uniqueness of the survival of the Danish Jewish community. It communicates the importance of the museum behind its walls. This feature brings the visitor into the internal courtyard entrance which is marked in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions. Photo: arcspace Photo: arcspace On the ground plane the entrance is configured by an ensemble of conversation spaces that will be developed into intimate meeting points for visitors and space for an outdoor cafe in the summer months. The vertical walls are marked by a projection of the Mitzvah configuration whose trace can be followed into the depths of the exhibition. Model Photo © Torsten Seidel Model Photo © Torsten Seidel Once inside the visitor has an easy access to the cafe that is also conceived of as part of the exhibition space and doubles as a projection space. After entering the exhibition proper, the visitors are in a space constructed of a wooden floor with slightly sloping planes representing the four planes of discourse. The entire exhibition space is illuminated by a luminous stained glass window that is a microcosm of Mitzvah transforming light across the day. Photo: arcspace The space of the museum that integrates the entrance, the cafe and support spaces is unified by the exhibition space that is both written and read like a text within a text within a text. This is a text in which the margins (walls, internal spaces, vitrines, virtual perspectives) play a fundamental role as the peripheral commentaries of the Talmud due to its central text. Photo: arcspace The entire space of the exhibition is penetrated by an oblique slope that opens a fifth virtual plane forming surface and a horizon that integrates all the surrounding exhibitions. The surface is used in the exhibition as tables, plinths and vitrines. It is also a visual vector that extends the visitor's experience beyond the walls of the museum. This fifth plane of space acts as a datum orienting the visitors and giving each child and person a scale through which the museum as text becomes legible. Ground Floor Plan Photo: arcspace Completion is estimated late 2003 Total Area: 450 square meters Structure: Steel structure clad with plywood Client: Danish Jewish Museum Architect: Daniel Libeskind Credits: Renovation of Galajhuset: Fogh & F¿lner architects, Denmark Consulting Engineers: Hansen & Henneberg The project will be on view at the Danish Centre for Architecture through September 11, 2003 July 7, 2003 Daniel Libeskind arcspace features