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Opera house crowns Danish design


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The opera house with its bubble-faced front and a flat, thin roof.
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Design 360
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Denmark
Arts, Culture and Entertainment

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (CNN) -- Few cities get a chance to build a world-class opera house from scratch with a stage and acoustics that are second to none, yet Copenhagen is one of them.

When Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller, Denmark's wealthiest citizen, offered to write a check to give the Danes an opera house that would set a standard for decades to come, it was gratefully accepted.

"We bought this piece of land with the purpose of using it for something special and did not find that special something. Many made the suggestion of an opera house, which we then studied and then we decided to try for it," says Mc-Kinney Møller.

That was early in 2000 -- five years later and a 14-storey structure has risen up from a former naval base on Halmen Island in the city harbor, opposite the Queen's palace.

"The last theatre was built in 1874, so it lasted for 130 years and is still being used. The previous one was built in 1776, so we expect this one to last for a long time," explains Mc-Kinney Møller, whose business group is one of the world's largest shipping companies.

He donated $440 million from the A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation, which was set up by his father, for Copenhagen's new opera house -- called the Operaen.

Five storeys of this impressive structure are below ground. The outer shell is made up of 11,000 pieces of stone from northern Germany.

Now the building houses the Royal Danish Opera and hosts ballet performances and larger scale operas.

The donation was formalized in August 2000 and architect Henning Larsen was handed the commission after success with other Møller projects. The brief was to design a landmark that would reflect the character of the Danish people.

"Everything is designed for the acoustics. There is not one single detail that is not part of the acoustics," says Larsen.

The roof of the auditorium is adorned with 105,000 sheets of 24-carat gold leaf and the main theatre seats 1,500 people, which is a modest size compared with Sydney's opera house in Australia, which accommodates more than 2,600.

"I had a vision that it should be first class, high quality. The size was discussed with professionals and chosen to suit the size of Copenhagen and the size of Denmark," says Møller.

No two panels in the auditorium are the same and were individually shaped to enhance the acoustics. Inside the main theatre the maple panels are also carved in a way that promotes the acoustics.

Many artists contributed to the public spaces, including the light sculptures in the foyer.

"They are composed of a lot of small glass pieces, forming spheres, and is lit from inside by hundreds of small lights," explains Larsen. "This gives a very special effect because of the colours, it also changes throughout the day."

The construction phase of the opera house began in November 2001 and over the next three years 3,000 workers and consultants toiled on the project.

It was originally the intention of the architect for the front of the opera house to consist solely of glass, which led to some disagreements with Mc-Kinney Møller who had other ideas.

"Naturally in a project like this there will be different views. And sometimes the engineers had a view that we did not like," explains Møller

"Sometimes the architects had a view that we did not like, sometimes vice-versa, but it all worked out."

The controversy was soon forgotten and it opened during a royal command performance in January. The opera house now officially belongs to the state.

CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney contributed to this report.


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