emabromleyARoS Art Museum by Architects Schmidt, Hammer and Lessen (2004).
A number of people I met on my travels had the ARoS Art Gallery as their number one place to visit on a trip to Aarhus and I can honestly say that it didn’t disappoint.
My initial plan was to visit this part of Denmark in order to spend a relaxing time in the countryside. However, lured by the promise of a guided tour of the Aarhus Town Hall and the rainbow walkway of the ARoS Art Gallery shining like a beacon on the Aarhus skyline, I ended up forgoing a bike ride along the coastline for a day of visiting impactful buildings instead.
The entrance fee felt a little steep at 150 DDK (approx £18 or €20) but then I reminded myself that this was Denmark and most things were expensive. After handing over my money, l stashed
my bag in a locker and headed straight for the roof.
As I exit the lift my attention is caught by a wash of wavering blue light on wall just ahead of me. Intrigued, yet knowing where it was coming from, my feet followed by gaze onwards and upwards through the almost space ship like entrance stairway to the walkway.
The main body of the gallery is encased in a brick clad square box, and designed to keep the visitors gaze firmly focused inwards. The experience of rainbow walkway sits in stark contrast to that of the gallery. Here the focus is all about the skyline of city of Aarhus below.
I spent a good hour walking around the circle, photographing people and watching as their clothes turned different hues in response to the passages of the red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple glazing.
I estimate that I took over 250 photos that day… just to capture the right shot! It was such fun and contained so many thresholds… and the art was pretty good as well.
