A new museum of Hans Christian Andersen by Kengo Kuma is opening in Denmark
Odense (Denmark) – A new museum dedicated to the local native, writer Hans Christian Andersen, was ceremoniously opened today in the Danish city of Odense, transporting visitors into the world of his famous fairy tales. The complex of circular buildings surrounded by a "magical" garden was designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. The project, costing over 50 million euros (1.3 billion CZK), is expected to become a tourist magnet, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors to Denmark's third-largest city, according to the DPA agency.
At the museum's opening, which also includes Andersen's birthplace, was Danish Queen Margrethe II. However, the operators caution that the complex is not yet fully completed. This is especially true for the adjacent gardens, where visitors will need to use a good dose of imagination, as per the writer's example, to envision how the authors intended the museum's form.
Andersen was born in Odense in 1805, and literary scholars believe that many of his fairy tales, including The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Pea, and The Ugly Duckling, were inspired by childhood experiences from the city located on the island of Funen. His stories became classics also because they are not entirely straightforward, according to the creative director of the new museum, Henrik Lübker.
"It does not provide answers but asks questions. That’s why we have a museum that is not full of answers, but full of questions," Lübker said. The fairy tale experience is also intended to be facilitated by the architecture itself. "Here, what is inside blends with what is outside," adds the director of the institution, who believes that similarly in fairy tales, the boundary between fiction and reality is blurred.
The buildings, without right angles, and the accompanying garden were designed by Kuma's studio, who aimed to reflect the essence of Andersen's work, where the small world often unfolds into an entirely new universe. "In such a universe, there is no hierarchy, no front side, or predetermined direction," Kuma stated.
The museum in the city center is set to become a new attraction. Previously, up to 100,000 people visited Andersen's birthplace and the exhibition about his work each year, with 70 percent of the visitors being foreign tourists, primarily Germans and Chinese.
> https://hcandersenshus.dk/en/
At the museum's opening, which also includes Andersen's birthplace, was Danish Queen Margrethe II. However, the operators caution that the complex is not yet fully completed. This is especially true for the adjacent gardens, where visitors will need to use a good dose of imagination, as per the writer's example, to envision how the authors intended the museum's form.
Andersen was born in Odense in 1805, and literary scholars believe that many of his fairy tales, including The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Pea, and The Ugly Duckling, were inspired by childhood experiences from the city located on the island of Funen. His stories became classics also because they are not entirely straightforward, according to the creative director of the new museum, Henrik Lübker.
"It does not provide answers but asks questions. That’s why we have a museum that is not full of answers, but full of questions," Lübker said. The fairy tale experience is also intended to be facilitated by the architecture itself. "Here, what is inside blends with what is outside," adds the director of the institution, who believes that similarly in fairy tales, the boundary between fiction and reality is blurred.
The buildings, without right angles, and the accompanying garden were designed by Kuma's studio, who aimed to reflect the essence of Andersen's work, where the small world often unfolds into an entirely new universe. "In such a universe, there is no hierarchy, no front side, or predetermined direction," Kuma stated.
The museum in the city center is set to become a new attraction. Previously, up to 100,000 people visited Andersen's birthplace and the exhibition about his work each year, with 70 percent of the visitors being foreign tourists, primarily Germans and Chinese.
> https://hcandersenshus.dk/en/
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