Ørestad College
Encyclopedia
Ørestad College is a public gymnasium
in the Ørestad
district of Copenhagen
, Denmark
. It is noted for its innovative architecture, favouring open studying environments instead of traditional class rooms, and for its media
-oriented profile. The building is designed by 3XN Architects
.
. On May 10, 2007, the school moved to a purpose-built building, designed by 3XN. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden attended the inauguration. From the inauguration of the new building, Ørestad College has been the most sought gymnasium in Denmark, with 545 applications while 358 were admitted.
.
The four boomerang
shaped storey decks are rotated to create the super structure which forms the flexible overall frame of the building. Avoiding level changes makes the organisational flexibility as high as possible, and enables the different teaching and learning spaces to overlap and interact with no distinct borders.
The rotation opens a part of each floor to the vertical tall central atrium
and forms a zone that provides community and expresses the college’s ambition for interdisciplinary education.
The storey decks are open towards the atrium, where a broad main staircase winds its way upwards to the roof terrace. The main staircase serves at the primary connection up and down, but also as the heart of the college's educational and social life. Three massive columns form the primary load bearing system, supplemented by a number of smaller columns positioned according to structural requirement, not as part of a regular grid.
As a rule, the glass is smooth with the deck fronts, but on each floor, one façade is withdrawn to create an outdoor space. These outdoor spaces are connected from ground to roof. In front of the glass facades, a series of coloured semi-transparent glass louvers can open or close to protect from the sun, while adding dashes of colour to the indoor environment
. Apart from the regular subjects, students are offered a "creative subject" which can be Multimedia (mainly communication, Adobe Dreamweaver and Adobe Flash
), Media (production of films, commercials and a theoretical introduction to media), or Visual Arts (including use of Adobe Photoshop
).
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in the Ørestad
Ørestad
Ørestad is a developing city area in Copenhagen, Denmark, on the island of Amager. It is expected that 20,000 people will live in Ørestad, 20,000 will study, and 80,000 people will be employed in the area...
district of Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. It is noted for its innovative architecture, favouring open studying environments instead of traditional class rooms, and for its media
Media studies
Media studies is an academic discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history and effects of various media; in particular, the 'mass media'. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly from its core disciplines of mass...
-oriented profile. The building is designed by 3XN Architects
3XN
3XN is a Danish architectural practice with head office in Copenhagen.-History:The company was founded in Århus in 1986 as Nielsen, Nielsen & Nielsen by Kim Herforth Nielsen, Lars Frank Nielsen og Hans Peter Svendler Nielsen. The latter left the company, which is today led by a partner group of...
.
History
From its opening in 2005 until 2007, Ørestad College resided in premises belonging to the University of Copenhagen Faculty of HumanitiesUniversity of Copenhagen Faculty of Humanities
The Faculty of Humanities at the University of Copenhagen is the largest faculty in terms of number of students and range of subjects. It has 22 departments plus a number of multi-disciplinary centres that cover about 75 subjects....
. On May 10, 2007, the school moved to a purpose-built building, designed by 3XN. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden attended the inauguration. From the inauguration of the new building, Ørestad College has been the most sought gymnasium in Denmark, with 545 applications while 358 were admitted.
Architecture
Ørestad College is noted for its innovative architecture, completely free of traditional class rooms. Instead, four study zones occupy one floor plan each. The building won the Forum Aid Award 2009 and was nominated for the Mies van der Rohe AwardEuropean Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture
The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture or Mies van der Rohe award is a prize given biennially by the European Union and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona, 'to acknowledge and reward quality architectural production in Europe'...
.
The four boomerang
Boomerang
A boomerang is a flying tool with a curved shape used as a weapon or for sport.-Description:A boomerang is usually thought of as a wooden device, although historically boomerang-like devices have also been made from bones. Modern boomerangs used for sport are often made from carbon fibre-reinforced...
shaped storey decks are rotated to create the super structure which forms the flexible overall frame of the building. Avoiding level changes makes the organisational flexibility as high as possible, and enables the different teaching and learning spaces to overlap and interact with no distinct borders.
The rotation opens a part of each floor to the vertical tall central atrium
Atrium (architecture)
In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
and forms a zone that provides community and expresses the college’s ambition for interdisciplinary education.
The storey decks are open towards the atrium, where a broad main staircase winds its way upwards to the roof terrace. The main staircase serves at the primary connection up and down, but also as the heart of the college's educational and social life. Three massive columns form the primary load bearing system, supplemented by a number of smaller columns positioned according to structural requirement, not as part of a regular grid.
As a rule, the glass is smooth with the deck fronts, but on each floor, one façade is withdrawn to create an outdoor space. These outdoor spaces are connected from ground to roof. In front of the glass facades, a series of coloured semi-transparent glass louvers can open or close to protect from the sun, while adding dashes of colour to the indoor environment
Curriculum
Ørestad College (also known as OEG) have a media oriented profile and has collaborated with several media related institutions in Ørestad including DR and the IT University of CopenhagenIT University of Copenhagen
The IT University of Copenhagen is a Danish globally oriented, independent university.The IT University of Copenhagen was established in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1999. At that time, it was - in Danish - called "IT-højskolen"...
. Apart from the regular subjects, students are offered a "creative subject" which can be Multimedia (mainly communication, Adobe Dreamweaver and Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
), Media (production of films, commercials and a theoretical introduction to media), or Visual Arts (including use of Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...
).