By & Havn | Copenhagen, Denmark 2008

This proposal for a new sustainable district in the Nordhavnen area of Copenhagen is city plan driven by a holistic understanding of urban life. Residential, retail, cultural and public spaces overlap and are enmeshed, with amenities and activities flooded throughout – as a resident, everything you need, and your work, could be within a short distance, whether cinema, grocer or gallery.

Making use of its seaside location, it refuses to see water’s edge as a boundary: an archipelago is formed of floating buildings ­– some anchored and linked with jetties and piers, some accessible only by boat. The archipelago will become established as a unique floating community, with its own identity distinct from that of mainland Copenhagen.

The plan is designed to maintain richly varied and characterful areas, linked together by clear pedestrian and public transportation routes along two main axes. These two avenues will be much more than just shopping streets: wider, with public functions, stalls and concert venues to be used for markets, fairs and festivals.