Landsarkivet, the National Archives for Zealand, was established in Copenhagen in 1893 on Nuuks Plads in Nørrebro in the north of the city. Ghostly and empty for the past decade, the buildings occupy a silent space in the vibrant neighbourhood. The oldest buildings were built in a new romantic style by Martin Nyrup, who also designed Copenhagen city hall, and in 1966 a massive extension was added in a sober modernist style, designed by renowned architect Nils Koppel. It looks a bit like a gigantic black windowless monolith stuck on the side of an old church. I’m sure some people hated it, but somehow it works.
The archives had approximately 47,000 meters of shelf space, but by the early 2000s, the buildings had begun to run out of room. Paperwork from local government authorities, such as the police, courts, and church, was collected and stored here, but in 2009, the whole thing was removed to a remote site, and Landsarkivet has stood empty since.
In 2018 a plan to build a block of high-rise flats on the site was abandoned after massive local resistance. Recently, a new project to develop the existing buildings into shops, cultural and living spaces was approved. I managed to get in there and take pictures in this dark, cold, empty space before the renovation begins. I spent a couple of days in there expecting a homeless person to jump out at me at any moment or that I would stumble into a secret crystal meth lab. Unfortunately, neither of those things happened.
Thanks to design studio BRIQ and developers 2L for letting me in.
