Tietgen Kollegium

Last weekend I visited this building called the Tietgen Kollegium, in an area near where I live. 'Kollegium' is the Danish word meaning dormitory, so this is where about 400 students from the area universities live. Visiting this site was actually a field study for my architecture class, but proved to be very interesting. The Tietgen Kollegium is the result of a design competition that took place back in 2002 hosted by a large bank in Denmark, called Nordea. The idea behind the whole competition was to  design a modern dormitory that accommodated the needs of present day students. The circular design that won the competition really emphasizes the idea of community between the students. All of the other buildings in the area, which are part of the IT University in Copenhagen, are very long and rectangular structures, so the kollegium really stands out among its surroundings. One of the coolest aspects of the building is that the architects designed it so it won't just be modern today, but can also easily be kept modern in years to come. The panels on the walls can be removed and replaced as the years go by in order to keep with the whole idea of a dormitory that will always be modern, no matter what year it is.