S_BilledeborgenKøbenhavnsRådhus_1905-2005

OUR LADIES Employed at the City Hall

I f you happen to walk through the C ity H a ll Garden, you are quite frequently likely to encounter a number o f young, happy and bare-headed ladies carrying their lunches; they are the young girls from the C ity Ha ll enjoying lunch out in the open. A n d they continue to do so fa r into the autumn, i f only the weather is clement and the sun willing to appear ju s t fo r a t short spell. B u t indoors too the working men and women o f the C ity H a ll are able to eat lunch under snug and cheerful conditions, namely in the cosy restaurant o f the C ity Ha ll down in the vault. However, the wages are not so generous that the young ladies can afford to go down there and eat warm food or drink coffee, but instead they have to bring luncheon to work, which they then eat in their respective offices when it is too cold to go outdoors, fo r the C ity H a ll cannot provide special luncheon-rooms fo r the employees as that would take up too much room. A n d thanks to the rapid growth o f the city, there is no room to spare in the big building because both city and municipal organisations are growing and demand more and more space. In the big enquiry office a young lady is wearing the comely office coat which the head o f the C ity H a ll administration prefers to see the ladies dressed in. However, the young ladies do not see quite eye to eye with the head o f adm inistration on this point, not even in his own offices, and the young ladies will probably still be allowed to dress fashionably and according to their own taste, which undeniably does enliven the surroundings. The dress o f the ladies appears pleasant and gay among the dark silhouettes o f the men, and the working relationship between men and women is natural, amiable and free and easy.

F rom the fortnightly m agazine »Vore Damer«, 2nd o f N ovem ber, 1922

BRASS AND BROWN FURNITURE Light and dark in the castle

»Within the vast number of furniture designed by Nyrop for the City Hall, a hierarchy exists corresponding to the rank and title of the user, but there are no symbols of power in the overall structure of the furniture, neither in its details. Primarily it has all been constructed to be useful«, Arne Karlsen, professor of architecture, says in his book »Dansk møbelkunst« i det 20. århundrede from 1990. And he quotes Martin Nyrop for putting artistic emphasis on handicraft and construction, being responsible for »licking things into shape« as the architect. Karlsen points out that Nyrop’s types of furniture are well-known but less prestigious than other kinds of architect-designed furniture from other public building projects at the time, and he proceeds to go through the most common types.

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