Sluseholmen Canal District (Danish

Danish language

Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...

: Sluseholmen Kanalby) is a residential development, located on Sluseholmen

Sluseholmen

Sluseholmen is a peninsula in the South Harbour of Copenhagen, Denmark. Part of the Southern Docklands of the Port of Copenhagen, the area used to house heavy industry, but since the turn of the millennium Sluseholmen has undergone massive redevelopment, transforming it into a mainly residential...

 peninsula in the South Harbour

Kongens Enghave

Kongens Enghave , also known as Sydhavnen , is a district in southern Copenhagen. The area has historically been one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Copenhagen, dissected by major transport corridors and characterized by social problems as well as industry along the harbour-front.Since the turn...

 area of Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

. The development comprises 1,350 apartments. The apartments are built on eight artificial islands, separated by dug-out canals. On each island is a closed block of townhouses, 4-7 stories tall, built around a sheltered courtyard

Courtyard

A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....

 with public access. The houses are frequently stand directly on the canals, while bridges, wharf

Wharf

A wharf or quay is a structure on the shore of a harbor where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.Such a structure includes one or more berths , and may also include piers, warehouses, or other facilities necessary for handling the ships.A wharf commonly comprises a fixed...

s and "ghats

Ghats

As used in many parts of South Asia, the term ghat refers to a series of steps leading down to a water body, usually a holy river. In Bengali-speaking regions, this set of stairs can lead down to something as small as a pond or as large as a major river....

" create direct contact to the water.

The development was designed by Dutch architect Sjoerd Soeters

Sjoerd Soeters

Sjoerd Soeters is a well-known postmodern Dutch architect. Among other projects, he is known for his work on Amsterdam's Java Island project, the apartment complex "The Pyramids" , and for the redevelopment of Amsterdam suburb Zaandam....

 and the Danish architecture firm Arkitema

Arkitema

Arkitema is Danish architectural firm headquartered in Aarhus with branch offices in Copenhagen and from 2012 Oslo. In Sweden it is a majority owner of Arkitema Dot...

 but to ensure a veried cityscape, the facades of the individual townhouses were designed by 20 different architecture practices.

History

The Sluseholmen peninsula used to house heavy industry, including a Ford

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

 cars factory. As the industry left the area, a plan was conceived to develop Sluseholmen into a canal district. The plan was a result of a cooperation between Sjoerd Soeters, Arkitema, Port of Copenhagen

Port of Copenhagen

The Port of Copenhagen is the largest Danish seaport and one of the largest ports in the Baltic Sea basin, with a total annual traffic capacity of around 18.3 million tonnes of cargo.-Statistics:...

 and the City of Copenhagen. Construction started in 2004, the first residents moved in in 2007 and by 2008 development of the new canal district had been completed.

Architecture

The general concept for the area was developed by Sjoerd Soeters and Arkitema with inspiration from the artificial island residential development in Amsterdam. Arkitema also developed the shell structures.

To ensure a varied cityscape, inspired by Copenhagen vernacular architecture

Vernacular architecture

Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...

 from around 1900, the facades of the individual townhouses were designed by 20 different Danish architecture firms. Arkitema drew up a set of dogma

Dogma

Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...

, governing the materials used, colours smd proportions of the facade designs. It was also decided that at least five different firms had to be involved in the design of each island. The result is lively and imaginative block housing, with individual houses highly diverse in appearance.

External links

• Sluseholmen at Arkitema
• Sluseholmen at Copenhagen X