A new Hans Christen Andersen museum takes architectural inspiration from one of his stories.
This summer, a new museum dedicated to the works of Hans Christen Andersen will open in his birthplace of Odense, Denmark. H.C. Andersen’s House looks absolutely gorgeous—it was designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and his team, who were inspired by Andersen’s story “The Tinderbox,” in which “a tree reveals an underground world, which magically reveals new perspectives right in front of the beholder.” Accompanying the museum will be a very magical-looking garden.
”Hans Christian Andersen’s artistic universe is fantastic, because it reverses how you imagine this world you thought you knew, but without putting anything else in its place,” said Henrik Lübker, the Creative Director of the new museum, in a press release.
His fairytales do not point towards a universal truth, but rather into the open—towards the peculiarity and multiplicity of the world. In the new museum, we maintain this ambiguity by using Andersen’s own artistic strategies as the starting point for how the garden, the house and the exhibition have all been shaped, as well as for the many artistic contributions that will also be part of the museum.
The museum aims to “spatialize the experience of Andersen’s literary universe and stage a complete artistic experience in which architecture, sound, light and a stream of images constantly create new encounters between each visitor and Andersen’s fairytales.”
Find out more here, and check out a few early renderings of the gorgeous new museum below:
Hedges envelop buildings. Photo credit Kengo Kuma & Associates, Cornelius Vöge, MASU Planning
Photo credit: Kengo Kuma & Associates, Cornelius Vöge, MASU Planning
Sunken garden. Photo credit Kengo Kuma & Associates, Cornelius Vöge, MASU Planning
Isometric view. Photo credit Kengo Kuma & Associates, Cornelius Vöge, MASU Planning
Arabesque overview. Photo credit Kengo Kuma & Associates, Cornelius Vöge, MASU Planning
