The Black Diamond

The extension to the Royal Danish Library opened in 1999, clad in polished black granite from Zimbabwe that reflects the water and the sky, with the whole mass leaning outward over the harbour and split by a glass atrium that runs the full height and gives a view straight through the building. A bridge links it back to the older nineteenth-century library across the road. Inside are reading rooms, the national photographic collection, a concert hall used for chamber music and jazz, a bookshop and a cafe with harbour views, along with exhibition space that draws on the library's holdings, which include manuscripts from the Danish medieval period, Kierkegaard's papers and one of the great collections of early printed books.

History

In the early 1990s the Ministry of Cultural Affairs held an international competition for an extension to the Royal Library on Slotsholmen, which drew 178 Danish and international firms; Schmidt Hammer Lassen won in 1993, construction began in 1995, and the building cost DKK 465,000,000. It was inaugurated on 7 September 1999 and opened to the public on 15 September, and the minister, Jytte Hilden, named it the Black Diamond after its polished black granite and irregular angles; it was the first of a series of large cultural buildings along Copenhagen's waterfront, and its 600-seat Queen's Hall is used for concerts, mainly chamber music and jazz (Wikipedia, Black Diamond (library)).

The main sights

• Polished black granite - a facade that mirrors water and sky.
• The full-height atrium - a glass slice cutting through the building.
• Manuscript exhibitions - drawn from the national collection.
• The harbour front terrace - the quay along the base of the building.

When to go

Year round. One to two hours. Open weekdays and Saturdays; closed Sundays. The atrium is best in bright weather when the light falls through it. Exhibitions change several times a year.

Things to know

Most of the building is a working research library and closed to casual visitors; the public part is the atrium, cafe, shop and exhibition rooms. Exhibitions are small. The granite shows every mark and looks dull in grey weather. There is no permanent display of the great manuscripts.

Nearby

Christiansborg Palace is behind it; Thorvaldsens Museum is a short walk.

Key facts