[ Larry Hill Associates ] The City Hall Void

Carving out a gigantic void in the middle of Copenhagen’s City Hall Square, Larry Hill’s conceptual approach for a new metro station calls attention to the activity of passengers as well as the trains.   “The project aims to put the public in the City Hall Square, as well as on it. The void and the metro machine is thus a seamless part of the city,” explained the architect.

The scale-less amorphous mesh covers a large portion of the square and gently slopes from street level to platform level.   The void, which measures 15m dep, 70m wide and 140m long, is covered with a transparent grid which provides “spectacular entrances to the metro” – three main portals that can accommodate thousands of passengers each day.

Structurally, H-profile beams and T-beams support the steel mesh surface with paired rounded steel columns organizing the metro tunnels.  ”The metro itself is penetrating the concave shape, incoming trains is then completely revealed to the public,” explained Hill.

“The space below, apart from being a transit hub, is also meant to be a negative imprint of the city itself…that lets one experience the noise, light and movement of the inner city from below. The project is not adding programs on the square itself, that way it is still a natural place for mass-gatherings and open air concerts,” added Hill.

Currently, the project is more focused on the underground zone as a purely spatial experience, and the project lacks other programmatic activities.  Since this skin covers much of the public square, perhaps, with further development, the surface can be transformed to more functionally respond to different activities happening in, on, around or under it.    In this way, the skin can become more than a surface treatment because by supporting public activity, the surface can actually become the Square.


from  archdaily