The Natural History Museum today unveiled the largest and most ambitious Danish museum construction in recent times. The new museum, which beautifully blends in with the Botanical Gardens in Copenhagen, was designed by Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects and architect Claus Pryds. The Museum expects to open its doors in 2017.

Today reveals the Natural History Museum in Denmark's new natural history museum is going to look like. The new museum will be carefully woven into the Botanical Gardens, and the historic buildings in the garden preserved and bound together by light glass buildings and greenhouses. During the earth's surface, the museum's exhibitions unfold organically shaped room.

- We have been in the amazing situation that the jury had to choose between six very convincing bid for the new museum. We have chosen Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects and architect Claus Pryds with a solution that has managed to create a unique museum building, while the new museum exploits area in, around, above and below the Botanical Garden in a way that creates a perfect balance between garden and museum, says Morten Meldgaard, director of the Natural History Museum.

The new museum invites passers in and give Copenhagen a new strait that everyone can go free through. From Sølvtorvet, through the new museum, out in the Botanical Gardens and up to Nørreport. Promises to gaze on the trip through the strait, if you look directly up against herds of whales, and the top, as a symbol of the museum hovers the colossal skeleton of a blue whale. The impressive collection of whale skeletons is one of the largest worldwide.

At experience underground

As Peis pyramid at the Louvre in Paris, only a small part of the museum that is visible above ground. Beneath the surface waiting more experiences. Here you will find world-space, Gateway to the Arctic, Evolution and a myriad of other exhibitions, along with the visitor the opportunity to look researchers over the shoulder, forming an innovative framework for the museum experience.

Under the surface of the earth unfolds museum exhibitions in organically shaped space that winds to make room for the roots of old trees. Click on the image to see it in full size.

- With the new museum, we bring together a wide range of research and communication activities that today are scattered in different locations. On the communication front, it will mean a quadrupling of the number of visitors, a tenfold increase in tourist visits and a multiple of school visits, said Morten Meldgaard.

The Natural History Museum, with its association with the University of Copenhagen is already a hub of international excellence, but with the new layout makes the museum a unique opportunity to create an interdisciplinary platform for the development of science in Denmark.

financing

The realization of the new museum building on a strong collaboration between the University of Copenhagen, state and private funds. The construction project is budgeted at 1.1 billion. kr., there comes the development and installation of new exhibitions to approximately 275 million. kr. A total of 1.375 billion. kr.

A number of private foundations have already expressed positive interest in the project, while the State and the University of Copenhagen will contribute land, buildings and renovation with a total value of about 385 million kr.

With the unveiling of the winning project can work to provide funding is now entering its final phase. It is expected that financing is in place at the turn of 2012/13, and that construction could begin in 2013 and be completed in 2016/17.

Source: KU