Name: Mountain Dwellings
Address: Ørestad, Copenhagen
Architect: Bjarke Ingels
Style: Modern / Sustainable
Description: Located in Copenhagen’s Ørestad district and completed in 2008, Mountain Dwellings merges two very different building programs into one seamless structure: two‑thirds multi‑storey parking and one‑third residential living. The building consists of 11 floors and covers approximately 33,000 m². Its 480-car garage forms a gently sloping concrete podium, upon which 80 L-shaped apartments cascade, each with a terrace and small garden facing south, effectively creating a mountainside of homes above urban infrastructure.
The design prioritizes sunlight, views, and suburb-style living while maintaining city density. Apartments are topped by personalized rooftop gardens maintained by an integrated rainwater irrigation system, with glass façades that slide open to blur indoor-outdoor boundaries. Inside, the parking garage transforms into a cathedral-like space with ceiling heights up to 16 m, colorful ceilings inspired by Verner Panton’s palette, suspended hallways, murals depicting wildlife atop car piles, and a ski-lift-style inclined elevator that connects residences to the garage floor below.
On its exterior, the north and west façades are clad in perforated aluminum panels that create a large-scale raster image of Mount Everest, by day the image is visible in high contrast; by night, internal lighting turns it into a glowing photographic negative with each floor level illuminated in different hues. Mountain Dwellings won multiple design awards, including the 2008 WAF Housing Award, 2009 ULI Award for Excellence, Forum AID Award, and MIPIM Residential Award marking it as a landmark in inventive urban housing that embodies Bjarke Ingels’s philosophy of hybridizing form and function.
Related Buildings:
Bosco Verticale, Milan Italy
1,000 Trees Shanghai, Shanghai China
More Reading:
None