in the back: svanemøllen koblingsstation (facility for the distribution of electricity), copenhagen, denmark 1966-1968. architect: hans chr. hansen, 1901-1978, working for the copenhagen municipal architects department under f.c.lund, 1896-1984.

in front: østre gasværk, gas tank 1881-1883. architect: martin nyrop, 1849-1921.

modernist architects have always loved martin nyrop's 1881 gas tank. the 1880's stood for everything early modernism was a reaction against, but here was one of the main culprits of the age working in the strictest utilitarian mode with a silent dignity the modernists could only dream of.

the gas works were to be demolished when hans christian hansen's switch station was built, but he planned his building so compact, the tank could stay - with hansen's facade as a backdrop at once in tune with and in contrast to the grey brick drum.

the gas tank was listed as late as 1984 and now, rather predictably, houses a theatre in which nyrop's drum and dome offer half the drama. the remaining grounds of the gas works have proven too polluted for development.

in the one page of publication, hansen's project was awarded in 1972, the urban ensemble was compared with the work of palle nielsen. it is a wonderful comparison and there appears to be a link between hansen's elevations and the etchings of his two great near-contemporaries from the royal academy, palle nielsen and rasmus nellemann.

the hans chr. hansen set. more words, yada, yada, yada.

the comments I have added to some of my photos can be read together as a kind of mangled, yet surprisingly brief essay on hansen. repetitious and opinionated, it reflects the writer above his subject, but until someone does some serious research on hansen, a complete lack of competition makes me immune to criticism. enjoy :)

01. introduction, amager 1966. 02. the engineer as ideal, hansen's pre-war architecture, sundholm 1939. 03. the church he didn't build. war and the return to tradition, 1942-1944. 04. following fisker. wartime housing, hulgårds plads 1943. 05. the architect finding himself in kindergarten, skydebanen 1948. 06. developing the restless section. hanssted school 1954. 07. early industrial. nyborggade transformer 1958. 08. the brutalist, bellahøj 1961. 09. perfect self-confidence, ringbo nursing home 1961. 10. perfect idiosyncrasy. ringbo bell tower 1961. 11. the masterpiece, bremerholm 1962. 12. on the fine art of knowing when to be a backdrop. svanemølle 1966. 13. industrialized construction, a first response. svanemølle 1966. 14. concrete charm, bellahøj gas regulator 1967. 15. late irreverence. gasværksvejen school 1969.

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