06 / 08Cultural
Archive of Light
- Location
- Aarhus, DK
- Year
- 2025
- Area
- 2,400 m²
- Typology
- Cultural
- Status
- In progress
Narrative
A photographic archive and reading room lit by a single 40-metre aperture.
The Archive holds a regional collection of 1.4 million photographic negatives, most of which must never see daylight. The building is therefore a dark box, mostly underground, with a single public room above: a reading hall lit by one long north-facing aperture cut across its full length.
The aperture is 40 metres long and 600 millimetres tall, glazed with etched glass, and it is the only window in the building. On overcast days the hall reads as a room of grey light with no visible source. On the few bright days of a Danish year, a slow bar of sun crosses the floor between eleven and two.
Construction began in early 2025. The archive vaults are complete; the reading hall is due to open in late 2026.
Gallery
4 plates
