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Collection by Margy Maher

Mountain Dwellings

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Though the Mountain Dwellings is ten minutes from the city center, "you're completely alone with the sky and with nature," Zahle says. "It's not really like an apartment, it's more like a summer house on a hillside."
Though the Mountain Dwellings is ten minutes from the city center, "you're completely alone with the sky and with nature," Zahle says. "It's not really like an apartment, it's more like a summer house on a hillside."
The deck can be accessed by the living rooms and both bedrooms and, in combination with the floor-to-ceiling glass walls, greatly expands the size of the apartment.
The deck can be accessed by the living rooms and both bedrooms and, in combination with the floor-to-ceiling glass walls, greatly expands the size of the apartment.
An expansive terrace and walls of glass unite indoor and outdoor space. Unlike the too-public, near-exhibitionist qualities of the experimental VM housing next door, Mountain Dwellings all have private terraces and suburbanesque garden spaces.
An expansive terrace and walls of glass unite indoor and outdoor space. Unlike the too-public, near-exhibitionist qualities of the experimental VM housing next door, Mountain Dwellings all have private terraces and suburbanesque garden spaces.
Ample space for entertaining is a must-have for Danish dwellers; The high cost of living and exorbitant price for a meal out on the town means dinner parties are regular events in Danish households.
Ample space for entertaining is a must-have for Danish dwellers; The high cost of living and exorbitant price for a meal out on the town means dinner parties are regular events in Danish households.
White walls, oak floors, and wooden window panes exude a calm, Danish-modern vibe. A stainless steel kitchen island, designed by BIG, is lit by Cecilie Manz’s Caravaggio lights.
White walls, oak floors, and wooden window panes exude a calm, Danish-modern vibe. A stainless steel kitchen island, designed by BIG, is lit by Cecilie Manz’s Caravaggio lights.
Zahle and Rich’s home has just one bedroom, so they put up a wall (hidden by the bookshelf) and sliding door to create a master bedroom at one end of the glass-walled main room. Thanks to modern insulation technology, “there is almost no difference between outside and inside,” says Zahle.
Zahle and Rich’s home has just one bedroom, so they put up a wall (hidden by the bookshelf) and sliding door to create a master bedroom at one end of the glass-walled main room. Thanks to modern insulation technology, “there is almost no difference between outside and inside,” says Zahle.
As there's no lobby, the building is always entered through the garage. If residents arrive by foot or bicycle, they can ascend the Mountain Dwellings by walking up a set of metal stairs that climb from south to north over the parking lot.
As there's no lobby, the building is always entered through the garage. If residents arrive by foot or bicycle, they can ascend the Mountain Dwellings by walking up a set of metal stairs that climb from south to north over the parking lot.
Every apartment has a terrace measuring around 1,000 square feet, with both private and semipublic spaces. “The cool thing about a garden is it’s yours,” says architect Bjarke Ingels. “If you’re on the wooden part, you can suntan in your bikini bottom or go without pants.” If, however, you walk out onto the artificial turf, you can see what’s going on with your neighbors (and they can see you).
Every apartment has a terrace measuring around 1,000 square feet, with both private and semipublic spaces. “The cool thing about a garden is it’s yours,” says architect Bjarke Ingels. “If you’re on the wooden part, you can suntan in your bikini bottom or go without pants.” If, however, you walk out onto the artificial turf, you can see what’s going on with your neighbors (and they can see you).
Completed in 2008, the Mountain Dwellings is the second of BIG’s three projects in Ørestad, a new neighborhood in Copenhagen where development is attracting many new inhabitants. The result does looks like a mountain—hence the building’s name and the inspiration for the mural of Mount Everest that adorns the 82-foot-high facade.
Completed in 2008, the Mountain Dwellings is the second of BIG’s three projects in Ørestad, a new neighborhood in Copenhagen where development is attracting many new inhabitants. The result does looks like a mountain—hence the building’s name and the inspiration for the mural of Mount Everest that adorns the 82-foot-high facade.
Not content to just build a regular parking lot behind the Himalayan facade, Ingels created a high-ceilinged, five-story, concrete-and-steel “car cathedral—to celebrate car culture.” Throughout, the French artist Victor Ash varnished the concrete walls with gray-on-gray murals of wild animals—a wolf, a moose—standing atop piles of wrecked automobiles.
Not content to just build a regular parking lot behind the Himalayan facade, Ingels created a high-ceilinged, five-story, concrete-and-steel “car cathedral—to celebrate car culture.” Throughout, the French artist Victor Ash varnished the concrete walls with gray-on-gray murals of wild animals—a wolf, a moose—standing atop piles of wrecked automobiles.
Over the garage, each unit sits on its own level, with nothing directly above or below—in effect making every apartment a penthouse.
Over the garage, each unit sits on its own level, with nothing directly above or below—in effect making every apartment a penthouse.