Day 7: Nørrebro & Public Squares
Exploring everyday Copenhagen living
June 22, 2022
Learning About Public Spaces
The day started as all the others did - with another amazing breakfast from the hotel, but taking some inspiration from the Danes, by attempting to make my own version of smørrebrød, which became a new staple in my breakfast for the rest of the trip. Later in the morning, we headed to the DIS classroom for a brief lesson on developing public spaces for people by one of the previous architects for the city of Copenhagen, before heading out for a bike tour with another architect, this time of Nørrebro, a neighborhood located in northern Copenhagen, with the purpose of learning more about parks, public spaces, and how people interact with them.
Our first stop was Israels Plads, a public plaza that had an underground parking area, an elevated surface, a skateboard park, an open schoolyard with children playing, corner seating, and benches that allowed people to sit inwards or towards the plaza. This concept was particularly interesting to me since it gave the bench user the option to watch the plaza and others interacting there or face the tree on the interior, due to the bench not having a physical back. The schoolyard itself was also interesting since it was only partially fenced, meaning the school children were able to interact with the plaza as well, creating an early sense of community for the younger members of society.
Our next stop was a hidden spot in between some buildings that hosted a basketball court and skate park, with wooden seats on the concrete stairs so it would be more comfortable for people to sit there even in the winter. With it being close to one of the Culture Houses (Kulturhuset), the area serves the community by providing an area for cultural events and meetings and emphasizes community building with people of all ages.
The third stop we took was Dronning Louises Bro (Queen Louise’s Bridge), which is one of the bridges that cross the Lakes and one of the busiest bike highways and hangouts in the city. To denote how many bicycles cross the bridge, a unique bicycle counter has been set up, keeping count of how many bicycles had crossed by so far that day, and cumulatively that year (when we were there around 11:30 am, 3,322 people on bicycles had already crossed that morning and while we were standing there the counter reached its 2,000,000th cyclist of the year!).
Our next stop was to see an urban renewal site, where city decision-makers tore down some housing complexes to make a green area (Den Grønne Firkant) with a sports complex built into the hill, but the question arises of how far is too far when it comes to removing housing?
Continuing on, we wove between apartment complexes and parks/playgrounds, eventually taking a shortcut through Assistens Kirkegård (Assistens Cemetery), where many notable Danes were buried, which also served as a greenway with the main bike path cutting through the middle of it. The cemetery itself, from what we could see as we rode through was maintained more like a garden with mossy trees, flowers, and beautifully landscaped shrubs, and even acted as a public space as well, with some people even there having picnics. Since we didn’t have much time before our scheduled lunch, we didn’t have time to stop just yet at the cemetery to walk around the grounds, however, planned to later, as we continued on connecting to one of the cycle highways that ran alongside public parks and trails.
As one of the major cycling innovations Denmark has put forward, the cycle highways stretch across the Copenhagen region with various municipalities creating an extensive bike network easily marked by orange signage spots on the path for easy wayfinding. On these routes, the cyclists' needs are given the highest priority to ensure they are able to have a safe, continuous commute. Along the route we took, there were covered structures, parks, sports facilities, and even some chicken houses and goat houses.
We stopped for lunch with consisted of a chickpea and vegetable sauce over rice and a leafy salad, at the Nørrebrohallens Multihal, which served the community as a library, food hall, cafe, and place for children to play, before going to check out the Red Square, where it was located. The Red Square (Den Røde Plads) itself, which is located in Superkilen, a modern urban park with recreational areas, serves as an ode to the level of diversity in Nørrebro. With a mixture of international donations, from a boxing ring from Thailand to a playground toy from India, the idea of the space was to include something from different parts of the world to highlight the ethnic diversity of the neighborhood. Continuing on along the bicycle corridor that ran through the space, we reached The Black Square, which featured even more international fixtures along with fountains and seating areas.
Next stop: Banana Park, which featured street art and a large climbing wall - something you would never see in the U.S. Being maintained by a local climbing club, the wall is open to the public, but warns users to use ropes while climbing. After watching enthralled as a few climbers made it to the top of the wall, we ended up visiting one of our tour guide’s local parks that encouraged both children and adults alike to interact with the blue swings and climbing structures, which also could accommodate hammocks during the summer in addition to courts and a small playground.
Finally, our last stop for our tour was a schoolyard and plaza that was previously a road but now serves as a public gathering place for the neighborhood, a playground, and a space for churchgoers to congregate. With a concrete curb with bicycle slots to denote where the playground was (but no fence), the boundaries of the schoolyard are marked, however, the public is welcome to use the area when schoolchildren are not there, once again highlighting the importance the Danish put on “play” at any age. With that, we finished up our first tour of the day, and seeing how we had some free time before our next activity, we returned to Assistens Kirkegård to explore the grounds for a bit.
Hanging Out...In a Cemetery?
Parking our bikes, we had about half an hour to walk around before we had to be off to Amager to tour the Amager Resource Center (ARC), the large incinerator that served as a waste-to-energy power plant that served the city of Copenhagen. Walking along the dirt paths, felt like walking into a movie scene at times, with ornate tombstones, iron gates, and groomed hedges that acted as natural fences. Along our walk, we saw the burial spots of Hans Christian Anderson, the prolific writer, Niels Bohr, a famous physicist, and Søren Kierkegaard, a theologian and philosopher.
Not Your Average Incinerator
Soon, we were off to our final stop/tour of the day, over at the Amager Bakke waste energy plant. The plant itself is over 10 stories tall with a checkerboard pattern, which was designed for safety purposes. After a brief presentation on how the plant operated by burning trash from the municipality which fueled heated water chambers which were turned into steam to power turbines that generate electricity for the city, we went on a tour of the facility, seeing where the trash was deposited, the controller room and one of the furnaces. Our tour guide also mentioned that the following day was Danish Midsummer (Sankthansaften), which occurs every year on June 23, where bonfires pop up around the city near the various waterfronts celebrating the returning light of summer as well as Saint John the Baptist’s birthday (something we definitely didn’t want to miss!).
Concluding our tour, we went onto the roof! Not only did the top of the facility offer amazing views overlooking the city, but also - most famously - an artificial ski slope (Copenhill) that runs from the top of the building to the parking lot below. If skiing isn’t so much your thing, they also offer a hiking trail that goes along the slope/side of the building, a cafe, as well as the world’s tallest climbing wall of over 80 meters.
Dinnertime + Dessert
Once we trekked down the powerplant, we decided to go to Reffen for dinner, since it was only about a 5-minute bike ride away and by that point past 7 pm. After arriving at Reffen, we split up to get our own food, agreeing to meet at one of the picnic tables at the sandy, waterfront seating area. Wanting to get some more seafood, I stopped at Fish & Chips to get lobster tail and french fries before finding a table for the group. After about an hour, we were ready to bike back to our hotel, enjoying the sunset along the way.
A bit later, remembering I previously saw a bubble waffle shop close to the DIS classroom, not far from our hotel, I headed out around 10 pm since I wanted to try and compare a few different ice cream/waffle places around the city. Stopping at Bubblewow, I got a snickers/caramel bubble waffle and decided to eat it in the square across the street (Gammeltorv), one of the oldest squares in Copenhagen that features a large fountain. Sitting in the plaza, I found myself surrounded by a loud, vibrant city since it was the midst of graduation, with students going out and lining up around all the local bars and restaurants. After walking around for a bit more, I ended up calling it a night and returned to our hotel.
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