May 2021 | Eyesore

Commentary on architectural blunders in monthly serial.

Behold the CopenHill Energy Plant and Urban Recreation Center, Copenhagen, Denmark, Arch-Daily’s “Building-of-the-Year,” designed by the super-hot Bjarke Ingels Group… embodying all the tragic contradictions of the contemporary condition: the desperate desire to connect to “nature” (and to have fun in it!), and the depressing dependence on massive amounts of electric power generation to maintain the high standard of living that leaves so much time for fun outdoor recreation in what remains of nature.

The structure is a waste-to-energy plant — which implies that a pretty high waste-stream is required to run the thing… which implies that you must have a society that produces immense amounts of waste. Hmmmm…. From the Arch-Daily website:

Beneath the slopes, whirring furnaces, steam, and turbines convert 440,000 tons of waste annually into enough clean energy to deliver electricity and district heating for 150,000 homes. The necessities of the power plant to complete this task, from ventilation shafts to air-intakes, help create the varied topography of a mountain; a man-made landscape created in the encounter between the needs from below and the desires from above. Ten floors of administrative space are occupied by the ARC team, including a 600m2 education center for academic tours, workshops and sustainability conferences.”

Unfortunately, nature herself has not furnished the flat little nation of Denmark with much in the way of ski-able terrain. (Must be pretty darn good for bicycling, though.) The set-up includes a “tree-lined hiking trail.” At the top is a “viewing plateau” and a cafe. I don’t think it was meant to be a joke, but….

Thanks to Abby Kinney for the nomination.