Together with American artist Doug Aitken Workshop, NIRAS, Volcano and RWDI, BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group has won the competition to design Byens Scene (The City’s Stage) in Ørestad, Copenhagen. Titled ‘The Impact’, the winning proposal merges three distinct urban spaces into a singular, interconnected stage that supports both daily activities and public performances. The transformation continues BIG’s two-decade presence in Ørestad, following the residential projects VM Houses, The Mountain and 8 House.
BIG has been selected to redesign the three major public plazas surrounding DR Concert Hall, Bella Arena and Royal Arena in Copenhagen. Spanning more than 50,000 m², The Impact introduces a new kind of urban space that supports both everyday life and performance. Instead of adding to Ørestad’s existing surfaces, The Impact removes sections of the pavement to uncover and reactivate the ecosystems beneath, opening space for greenery, gathering and movement. With a calculated carbon footprint below 0.1 kg CO₂ per m² per year, the project is designed to incorporate reused materials, local water management and robust, native plantings.
"It is with immense pleasure that we return to Ørestad 15 years after completing the 8 House. This time with the intention of breathing life between the buildings. With 'The Impact', we have taken an approach that breaks open the perfect, finished surfaces of the city like a meteor strike, creating space for all forms of life, plants and animals, nature and culture. Like a form of urban Kintsugi - the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold - the cracks and fractures will create a kind of accelerated patina on the otherwise very new district. In the words of Leonard Cohen: 'There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.'” - Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG
Rather than designing three individual plazas, The Impact connects them into a seamless landart. At its heart, a sculptural ‘crack’ in the landscape carries water, light and movement across the site. The crack traverses all three plazas, forming a physical and visual thread that unites them into a single story.
At the DR Concert Hall, the existing water feature is transformed from an urban void into an urban stage with tiered seating and floating islands that encourage rest, play and performance. Stages and seating activate the space, while the pool’s shallow depth allows for playful, accessible interactions in the shade of the surrounding trees and plantings. Existing paving is reused in new patterns to form seating edges and steps, while a path of light and water cuts through the square, shifting in rhythm with time of day and season.
Bella Arena’s forecourt becomes a sequence of smaller green rooms, shaped by sunken beds, microclimate pockets and seating folded into the landscape. The green crack continues up the building façade, guiding visitors through the site as intuitive wayfinding. A surface of natural stone, flamed concrete and reused elements combines with plantings to provide seasonal variation and urban resilience. Wetlands, dense vegetation and blooming species spill into the plazas and paths, while a glowing green line guides, connects, and enlivens the landscape.
At the Fields Mall, the origin of The Impact is revealed. Two artworks emerge like meteorites crashed into the urban fabric, disrupting and redefining the space. From there, a golden, glowing crack guides visitors towards the Royal Arena, introducing light, reflections and sculptural elements to create an interconnected promenade.
Approaching Royal Arena, the crack flows across streets and plazas, tearing through the pavement and culminating in a sculptural rupture that reshapes the site into a place for gathering and play.
“The Impact will disrupt the ordinary to unveil the extraordinary. With a cohesive language that adapts to both grand and intimate spaces, pavements and building surfaces crack open to reconnect fragmented areas, allowing life to breathe through. Interactive water, nature, and light flow through these cracks like lifelines, stitching together the existing urban fabric while creating unexpected encounters. In doing so, we demonstrate how art and landscape design can reactivate public space and achieve low environmental impact, while delivering a powerful, socially driven transformation. As landscape architects and residents of Copenhagen, we are thrilled by the opportunity to help shape Ørestad’s future and celebrate its unique potential.” - Giulia Frittoli, Partner, BIG
Throughout the project, existing materials like granite and concrete are reused in new surfaces and urban furniture. Rainwater is managed on site through open channels, topographic basins and permeable layers, while native vegetation strengthens biodiversity and microclimatic comfort.
Team:
Client: By & Havn, Danmarks Radio, BellaGroup, BellaKvarter, Live Nation, Metroselskabet, ØICC
Collaborators: Doug Aitken Workshop, Niras, Volcano, RWDI
Partner-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Giulia Frittoli
Project Manager: Ulla Hornsyld Project Lead: Xu Lian
Team: Christian Vang Madsen, Parastoo Salehi Farhadpour, Elif Merve Türköz, Xinyu Zhao, Alicia De Nobrega, William Emil George Abdou, Lucia Rocio Hurtado Ayala, Matthew Goodwill, Louise Natalie Mould, Gisella Birardi, Frida Sofia Otterbeck, Jonathan Udemezue
BIG Sustainability: Chiara Gargiulo, Will Chuanrui Yu
