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Zaha Hadid and the Ordrupgaard museum

In March 2001 the Danish Culture Ministry invited tenders for the design of an extension to the Ordrupgaard museum, such as would provide new display space in which to stage special exhibitions for the permanent collection.
The aim was to improve the space and conditions in which exhibits are kept, and to create more space for shows and for visitors, with the addition also of a new foyer, a café and a multipurpose hall.

The choice for the Ordrupgaard museum extension fell on Zaha Hadid, an architect of world renown famous for projects of exceptionally high value.
Zaha Hadid based her design on a strategy whereby the existing landscape is abstracted, interpreted and translated into geometries from which to generate structural models.

The original concept for the exhibition spaces and the choice of materials are primary elements of design that strike the visitor from the moment of entering the museum, where the eye is met by glass surfaces set into concrete structures. Of key importance, also, is the relationship of the structure with the surrounding landscape. The outcome is a classically inspired extension to the Ordrupgaard coexisting comfortably with the original museum block, which has been standing for 100 years.

For general illumination, the preferred solution was to use recessed downlights in the ceiling, in combination with recessed fluorescent lighting for pedestrian areas and in the multipurpose hall, and Linealuce luminaires along the walls, also recessed, to floodlight the building. The paintings are lit by exposed directional spots fitted with halogen lamps, to accentuate their full expressiveness.