Installation, Copenhagen

Adult girls and boys revived their inner Tarzan when the installation 'The Rope Show', with 3500 ropes suspended from a giant canopy, was inaugurated at the former Carlsberg Brewery area in Copenhagen, Denmark on 09 December 2010. This project is the third of three spaces at Carlsberg experimenting with temporary installations, which should attract citizens of Copenhagen to stay and be active in the public spaces between the former brewery buildings.

The focus of the project was to utilize an existing roof and create both active experiences and intimate spaces without spoiling the rare quality of the existing large covered public space. This approach springs from an overall strategy to build on the existing character and qualities of Carlsberg, and reinforce them through temporary urban installations.

Both intimacy and challenges are created through a simple concept of hanging around 3500 heavy white ropes fitted with orange ends in the roof structure. The ropes hang closely, with approximately half a meter between them, and produce both a clear outer contour and an internal maze with the possibility of losing yourself.

The dense jungle of rope is in some places cleared as the ropes are cut at precise heights in order to form vaulted spaces of varying sizes that can be used as hangouts and for various events. Similarly, there is a pedestrian and cyclist path cut straight through.

The construction is in some ways reversed as reinforcements of the canopy and the suspension points of the ropes are all located at the top, allowing the structure to have minimal contact with the ground instead of standing on a solid foundation. The suspension converts gravity into a dynamic force, which helps to keep the ropes in almost constant motion. Only a slight breeze will send swirls through the ropes and make the entire structure seem unstable. It can be experienced as the weightless state of seaweed swaying in a current.

When passers-by swing in the ropes they get a sensual experience of moving three-dimensionally in an extraordinary space. The urban jungle is an example of a distinctive urban space that is not subject to a strict functional programme, but is open to be used and experienced in mysterious ways by the public.