Photos: Modern In Denver
Vola has been producing taps and accessories for over 55 years, including the original Arne Jacobsen-designed faucet that is now held in MoMA’s permanent collection.
Highlights of Copenhagen included visits to the Danish Architecture Center, the Portland Towers, 8House by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the Silo in North Harbor, and the famous SAS Royal Hotel with interiors designed by Jacobsen. To keep on with the Jacobsen trajectory, we visited a gas station he designed in 1936 on the outskirts of the city; the tile-clad structure is still in operation today! Nearby, we stopped at Jacobsen’s home in Klampenborg, built in 1951, before traveling on to the city of Aarhus where we toured the Rådhus (city hall) he designed and that was opened in 1941.
While in Aarhus we saw the new Jette Tikjøbs Plads development on the water, that includes several buildings designed by BIG. We also stopped in at the library designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects and made a visit to the ARoS art museum, one of the largest museums in northern Europe and home to Ólafur Eliasson’s colorful skywalk: “Your Rainbow Panorama.”
Outside of Aarhus is the Vola factory, where all of the company’s taps and accessories are produced before being sold across the world. The factory is progressive in its ethos and innovative in its use of technology. Dedicated to creating the highest quality products that will last a lifetime, the factory utilizes a comprehensive recycling program that melts down unused parts, repurposing 100% of the material for new products. Vola is also on the cutting edge when it comes to utilizing robots to automate the repetitive and physically demanding tasks necessary to create the numerous parts required in each of their products.
To experience the Danish culture and see their passion and dedication to architecture and design firsthand was truly inspiring. Mange tak!
