Aarhus Musikhuspark

In connection with the expansion of ARoS – The Next Level in collaboration with the artist James Turrell, Musikhuset Aarhus and the City of Aarhus launched a competition for a new city park in the Musikhus Park. The winning project, by Schønherr, unites the City Hall Park, the Musikhus Park, and the ARoS Gardens into a single coherent narrative.

The core of the urban space is the Ring – an architectural frame that embraces the park’s green floor, links the cultural institutions, and creates new gathering places. In some places, the Ring lies flush with the grass, where water runs like in a channel; in others, it rises as a long seating plinth before leveling out in front of Musikhuset, where the water feature The Tide Clock and a wide reflecting pool bring life and sound to the urban space. Finally, the Ring frames the Skydome in a precise tableau for Turrell’s work.

The center of the park is a green grass carpet with room for summer concerts and the winter ice rink – framed by clusters of trees along the periphery. 23,000 perennials provide color and life year-round and support a rich insect habitat, while the expression of nature shifts with the seasons.

Sustainability is integrated in the reuse of materials: 60% of the setts, 68% of the concrete tiles, as well as all old cobblestones, granite blocks, and fieldstones are reused from the former park.

The city park is a new, open meeting place for the whole city – a space for green experiences, cultural events, and spontaneous social encounters, where beauty, nature, and people converge in a vibrant urban landscape.

‍