BIG to revive danish supermarket hub as museum for paper art

first look at the Museum for Paper Art in denmark

BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group is set to transform a former supermarket building into the new Museum for Paper Art in the North Jutland region of Denmark. With paper art deeply rooted in the Danish cultural heritage, including the iconic folded lampshades by Le Klint and H.C. Andersen’s paper clips, the timber-designed conversion and extension of the building intends to double the museum‘s annual number of visitors as well as embrace paper as an art form and expertise. ‘Carrying this legacy into the future is something that this museum has at its heart,’ says Karen Bit Vejle, the museum’s director.

rendering © BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group

big’s draping timber roof structure over existing building

The Museum for Paper Art, founded by psaligrapher Bit Vejle in 2018, is the only specialized museum for paper fine crafts and design in the Nordics. The approximately 900 sqm former supermarket building will be renovated and expanded by the team at BIG to create a 2,300 sqm museum with space for workshops, events, teaching rooms, storage, and office facilities. The adaptive reuse project is pursuing DGNB Gold or Platinum certification. Conceived as a new lightweight roof structure, the building emerges like a single sheet of paper, with the roof landing gently over it to create space for the new functions around it – uniting the new and old under one roof. The existing walls will get a new acoustic-regulating layer of paper art on the exterior, inspired by origami and designed in collaboration with several paper artists.

rendering © Wizarch

‘Paper art is about creating three-dimensional shapes and complex images from a monochromatic two-dimensional material – a sheet of paper. By treating the roof surface as such – a single sheet of folded paper – existing and new functions are brought together in one unifying gesture. The expressive is accentuated by the clear, complexity arises from simplicity. And an obsolete supermarket finds new life under the floating curved roof,’ notes Bjarke Ingels.

Inside, the focal point of the Museum for Paper Art is reflected in the architecture as surfaces are draped with a timber construction made from the wood that is used to make paper. ‘In the foyer and assembly space, the old structure is clearly felt within the new one – a unified space inspired by paper and crafted in wood,’ concludes BIG partner David Zahle. Once completed, the project will offer spaces for a variety of public activities. A meandering path with plants and trees native to the area will invite the public to explore the surroundings and create a welcoming public realm to pull the visitors into the museum.