national bank of denmark, copenhagen, 1961-1978. architect: arne jacobsen, 1901-1971. final stages completed by architects dissing+weitling.

from the water, the short facade of jacobsen's bank can also be read as one of the habour warehouses that are always placed perpendicular on the quay.

but the image of the temple dominates.

while most copenhageners find the building too stern, artist per kirkeby who is currently flooding the country with his awful brick sculptures has dismissed it as being too light-hearted and in a sense he is closer to the truth.

the bank is a very playful building in its inversions of its temple model, in its denial of weight and gravity, its deceitful tectonics, but more than anything in its scale. in the best of jacobsen's late works, scale becomes a game rather than the well-meaning reference to the human body and the actual size of the building becomes very difficult to read. I can only compare it to lutyens' high game of classicism.

jacobsen was not the only local architect to base his designs on the temple, I am referring of course to utzon who did a number of temples, not least the national assembly in kuwait and the paustian furniture shop in copenhagen.