Radisson SAS Royal Hotel, Copenhagen

The Radisson SAS Royal Hotel is a hotel in Copenhagen, that was designed by Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen for the airline Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) between 1956 and 1960. It was the largest hotel in Denmark when it was completed in 1960 and was the first skyscraper in Copenhagen. It is located in the heart of the city, close to Tivoli and the central station.
The entire hotel from the exterior facade through to the stainless-steel cutlery used in the restaurant and the Swan and Egg chairs gracing the lobby have been designed by famous Danish architect, Arne Jacobsen. Since most of his work has been replaced by corporate standard fabrics and furniture, the hotel is referred to as Jacobsens Lost Gesamtkunstwerk. Only a single room has been kept in the original design. It has all of the original, green furniture and the wood panels on the wall. This room, with the number 606, is still available for booking.[1]
During the design phase sketches of the building where published in Danish newspapers. Critics feared a destruction of the traditional skyline of Copenhagen. The buildung was compared to a punch card. Jacobsens response was: "it’s funny, for that is actually what it looks like when the windows are open on a hot summer’s day." Another term used was introduced by Jacobsens former associate Erik Møller, who called it the 'glass cigarbox'. The promoter of the international style, Philip C. Johnson, said it was the worst copy of the Lever house. Jacobsen responded: "At least, it came in first when they held a competition for the ugliest building in Copenhagen." [2]
The structure is twenty stories high and a defining characteristic of Copenhagen's skyline. The structure was inspired by New York Park Avenue structures, namely Skidmore, Owings and Merrill's Lever House. The building's sense of lightness emanates from its Lever House-inspired form with a two-story base supporting its lofty "punch card" tower. The effect is also enhanced with the architect's placing of "thin aluminum mullions and the pale glass pandrels, and avoids appearing as a dominant foreign object in conflict with its surrounds."[3]
It was renamed the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel in 1994, when SAS bought a share in the foreign division of Radisson hotels. When SAS sold their share, it kept its old name even though all other Radisson SAS Hotels were renamed "Radisson Blu" in 2009.