During World War II, the coast of Nazi-occupied Denmark was heavily fortified to protect Germany on the Western Front. Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), has transformed one of the area’s remaining German bunkers into Tirpitz, a new cultural complex focusing on that history.
Bjarke Ingels Group Turns a German Bunker into the Tirpitz Museum
The newly opened cultural center in Denmark's coast is a testament to the area's traumatic past.
By David Basulto August 15, 2017
The existing concrete structure houses a museum while, in order to maximize the bunker’s powerful presence, BIG built the new cultural center into the dunes, becoming part of the landscape. Inside, four light-filled spaces arranged around a central open area are connected through paths carved into the sand, like a wound on the land. The subtle design of the new building lets the old bunker be the protagonist—a silent witness to a tragic past.
David Basulto is the founder and editor-in-chief of ArchDaily.
