Louisiana Museum in Humlebæk
“What defines the genius loci, the spirit of a place? A particular work of art, a building, or a specific landscape? None of these things alone. Only when art, architecture, and nature interact, forming a unity, do we experience this indefinable feeling: This is something special.” (Knud W. Jensen, 1994). When Knud W. Jensen bought the property on the Öresund in 1954 to build a museum for his private art collection, it was the unique character of the place that fascinated him: the sea, an artificial lake, and the large, well-maintained park with its enormous trees. The young architects Jørgen Bo and Vilhelm Wohlert, whom he commissioned to design the museum, were given three stipulations: First, the 19th-century country house on the property should serve as the museum's entrance; second, he desired a two-storey exhibition space for the Giacometti sculptures, oriented towards the lake; and third, he wanted a cafeteria with views of the sea and Sweden across the Øresund. Bo and Wohlert addressed these requirements with three pavilions connected by glass walkways, sensitively integrated into the site's topography. The resulting north wing extends from the entrance building to the coast, offering views of the park, its sculptures, trees, ferns, and both artificial and natural water features. Bo and Wohlert drew architectural inspiration not only from traditional Danish architecture but also from that of Japan and the USA.
