- what exactly is this? - jiattison
- I wish I knew!
arne jacobsen, aarhus town hall 1937-1942
aarhus town hall, aarhus, denmark, 1937-1942.
architects: arne jacobsen, 1902-1971, with erik møller, 1909-2002.
portrait of a staircase...
the influence from asplund on jacobsen was never more obvious than in aarhus town hall, the first of his many town halls and a competition win from 1937.
the building is one long tribute to asplund's law courts in gothenburg completed the same year and like the law courts, the town hall is a riot of modernist details, a collage of highly individual elements brought together under a great skylight.
the staircase connects main hall and basement. because of a change of level, the basement becomes a regular office floor further down and jacobsen needed a dignified connection. by placing its negative shape as a kind of geometric ornament in the floor, the staircase becomes the view from the surrounding balconies of the atrium, in effect making the floor an interior facade.
the exceptional floor in the main hall shown here is bog oak - oak trees several thousand years old, dug out of swamps and dryed very, very slowly. the wood is nearly fossilized and extremely strong and heavy. since it is difficult to obtain and work with, bog oak is usually only used for ornamental work. it was used here because of wartime shortages in place of a hardwood floor.
together with the extensive brass detailing, the beech and birch wall cladding, the bog oak floor makes for an interior of warm colours, kept in check by the white concrete skeleton.
more arne jacobsen
more words, yada, yada, yada.
this photo was uploaded with a CC license and may be used free of
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if possible, please name photographer "SEIER+SEIER".
if not, don't.
Comments and faves
..colb.., Ben Jones Photography, ken mccown, bryanboyer, and 328 other people added this photo to their favorites.
Hamzeh Karbasi (58 months ago | reply)
nice architecture
ken mccown (58 months ago | reply)
what a floor! love the wood pattern. Not so sure about that shape in the lower level though. Nice angle-thanks for sharing!!
anii579/ Ani (58 months ago | reply)
Great composition.
jiattison (58 months ago | reply)
nice timber floor! did it age in such a "natural" way or was it originally like this? btw, what's the thing that I put a note around?
NAME=NICK (58 months ago | reply)
bellissima
Peter Guthrie (58 months ago | reply)
Cool shot. Love the timber floor.
It's almost a squircle
mete: [deleted] (58 months ago | reply)
incredible!
Doctor Casino (58 months ago | reply)
One of your best shots, s^3.
lavardera (58 months ago | reply)
puddle?
victortsu (58 months ago | reply)
wonderful picture. then again, I love stairs... :)
fabio.apc (58 months ago | reply)
Beautiful shot!
Love pictures of stairs! Always an interesting subject...
seier+seier (58 months ago | reply)
thank you for the many kind comments!
I have tried to extend the text to answer some of your questions, especially regarding the floor which almost all noticed as something exceptional.
I have not been able to find an explanation for the strange aaltoesque shape in the basement floor. it is not in the books. but it is certainly there on purpose...
Doctor Casino (58 months ago | reply)
It isn't like, a map of Aarhus or something like that, is it?
Doctor Casino (58 months ago | reply)
(The Ohio capitol building has a room where all the counties are laid out on the floor so you can get a photo of you on your county. This is not exactly architectural genius but it has proven popular!)
lasse22 (58 months ago | reply)
wow!
ivanminjarez (58 months ago | reply)
wow beautiful....
seier+seier (58 months ago | reply)
thanks!
doc, I think you are probably right.
GeoNando (58 months ago | reply)
beautiful spiral
seier+seier (58 months ago | reply)
yes it is!
Ben Lepley +_+ (57 months ago | reply)
thats interesting about the bog wood oak, thanks
seier+seier (57 months ago | reply)
you are welcome
arndalarm (57 months ago | reply)
What a floor, what a staircase and what a photo!
seier+seier (57 months ago | reply)
:)
Seth Tisue (56 months ago | reply)
that's a beauty.
seier+seier (56 months ago | reply)
it is and from here on elegant staircases became a jacobsen trademark
XOSI RA (55 months ago | reply)
What a staircase!
seier+seier (55 months ago | reply)
:)
Francesco.Brivio (52 months ago | reply)
Jacobsen : the sublime of modernism
seier+seier (52 months ago | reply)
agreed :)
Audiotribe (52 months ago | reply)
Awesome!
seier+seier (51 months ago | reply)
:)
scleroplex (51 months ago | reply)
breathtaking!!
i shall print this + hang it in my photo gallery at the hospital.
your photo shall be on display at harvard :-)
seier+seier (51 months ago | reply)
always wanted to get into harvard :)
aquilan (50 months ago | reply)
this is beautiful!
seier+seier (50 months ago | reply)
the house is full of details of this order
í r i s (44 months ago | reply)
I'm awestruck! I've really enjoyed looking at your stream. Wonderful shots.
seier+seier (44 months ago | reply)
thank you - you are really too kind :)
corinasicily (32 months ago | reply)
excuse me for my error!!!
this is a very nice photograph!!!!
seier+seier (32 months ago | reply)
:)
thank you
KRoark (27 months ago | reply)
Neat building and great angle.
seier+seier (27 months ago | reply)
it is a fine building :)
UnprobableView (busy...) (25 months ago | reply)
great !!
seier+seier (25 months ago | reply)
:)
victortsu (24 months ago | reply)
16.700 views ! unbelievable.
seier+seier (24 months ago | reply)
on the internet, victor, I don't think it counts. I saw a bad cartoon on youtube the other day with 150 million views :)
victortsu (24 months ago | reply)
It's impossible to compete with youtube. But 16703 views for a picture of a stairwell in denmark... it's astonishing.
seier+seier (24 months ago | reply)
if only it was on youtube and had boobs :)
victortsu (24 months ago | reply)
lol.
Pampara back!! (24 months ago | reply)
wow! wonderful work!
--
Seen on a map. ( ?² )
seier+seier (24 months ago | reply)
:)