Bjarke Ingels designs “hidden” museum

With more and more institutions handing BIG architects commissions, Bjarke Ingels has officially gone for funky “wunderkind” to establishment designer. But that doesn’t mean he’s toned down his signature “yes is more” mindset.

His latest institutional design is a World War II museum in the coastal Danish city of Blåvand. So what’s the “big” twist? It’s invisible — or at least above ground it is.

The museum, which focuses on Denmark’s role in the war, expands a former Nazi bunker in a 30,180-square-foot, cast-concrete institution. Dubbed, Tirpitz, the museum includes galleries and event spaces. According to Curbed, the concrete floors and ceilings are intended to evoke the heavy forms of the original bunker, while long rows of windows light the space.

This isn’t the first time Ingels has designed a subterranean building. Back in 2013, the BIG-designed Maritime Museum of Denmark opened beneath the city of Helsingør.