Fireogtyve

Lecture Reflection 16.4.2010 Transportation Design

Since arriving in Copenhagen I have been astounded by the fluidity of motion throughout this city. People. Cars. Bikes. Buses. Trains. Metro. Escalators. Doors. Waiting lines. Copenhagen seems to function as a well oiled machine, comparatively to my home city Boston, well there is no real comparison, Copenhagen appears flawless. The infrastructure responsible for such smooth transitions is understated by the Dane's and highly appreciated by the American traveler. While the functionality of the transportation blows my mind I am more so interested in the transparent integration of modern design and that of historical Danish design.

Every bus stop to metro sign have recently been designed in simple, sleek, modern style. The simplicity of such designs is not only aesthetically pleasing but does not distract from the designs of the past. With the use of consistent  traditional materiality modern forms do not feel out of place even within the oldest parts of Copenhagen. Contrasting this cohesive style are many European cities that look thrown together. While the aesthetics of Nørreport Station are extremely different from that of the Round Tower the walk from Nørreport St down Strøget seems natural and fluid.

Danish architects and city planners have been taught to respect architectural feats of the past. As an ode to such lessons much of modern Danish architecture and civic designs have consistent materials with designs of the past, such as brick and steel used in traditional Danish design. The modern designs seem to compliment what has been standing for hundreds of years. The materials used, and designs completed are as fluid and translucent from one another as that of the actually inferstructure and physical planning of the transportation here in Denmark. It is hard to decide whether the two are divisble or whether aesthetics and function would not be as successful without the other. This in between bit is what makes the transportation here in Copenhagen so Danish: form and function equally successful and considered.