Architecture without borders

Zaha Hadid's building demonstrates a perception of space and shape as borderless movement and progression.

At Ordrupgaard, as in many other projects, Hadid has worked to decode and interpret the surroundings. Before she started, Hadid made studies of the terrain in the park at Ordrupgaard and the building has been designed as a sort of continuation of the landscape.  

This point of departure in the landscape has resulted in a very sophisticated and moulded figure which almost 'hangs' in the undulating terrain. It has been said that the extension at Ordrupgaard resembles a stranded whale and also a recently landed spaceship, but irrespective of the associations we make, it is a building which folds perfectly into the topography of the landscape. 

Inside, the building opens itself up as a 'fluid space' where it is hard to detect the transition between galleries and corridors, not to mention floors and ceilings. The rooms constantly relate to the curves of the terrain, with the ceiling rising and falling as you progress through them.

In many places the walls are slanted and irregular, and Hadid explores a plethora of crooked angles. As she says: "there are 360 degrees, so why stay with one"? These odd angles contrast with the building's many soft bends and curves. Furthermore, the building is characterised by large areas of glass which invite in the daylight and surrounding nature and which reinforce the experience of the building's integration with the landscape.