Valby’s White City part 1

There is much to learn from this little Danish village, now a part of greater Copenhagen.

• Design and vision matter.

• Good design and vision impact the long-term value of a place.

• Flexibility of use ensures that buildings of good design can endure as our culture and community change.

• Perhaps having a “creative variance” option in our corridors and downtowns, where a new concept can be presented for approval, would open opportunities for homes and villages of such charm and quality that we might protect them for the next 100 years?

Enduring Design

You might miss this village, even if you explored beyond the center of Copenhagen.  Even if you happened on it on the way to the Valby train station – you might think you stumbled on a cluster of mansion size homes with repeating architecture and a propensity to white paint.  But if you were as lucky as I was to stay in one of these homes, thank you to AirBnB and a desire to explore ADU’s (a blog for another day,) you would instinctively know that this neighborhood held a history and design pattern that was remarkable.  Each house has been preserved – each unique and yet an essential part of the whole.  It has been preserved – because it was built in a sustainable pattern with sustainable materials. By sustainable, I am applying the “old school” definition - about enduring style and design and materials that last. It has been preserved mostly because the people who live there – love it.

It impacted me so much that it was my first destination once I returned to Copenhagen this spring.  I had not been able to find much writing or history about this neighborhood after visiting for the first time in 2017 – but following a remarkable lunch of fresh mussels at a local Brasserie, I came to know that this magical place had a name.  White City.  City is a bit of a stretch by anyone’s estimation, and the issue is probably in the translation, so forgive me for referring to this charming neighborhood as Valby’s White Village.  Now that I have a lot of information on this Danish treasure, I may be returning to it for inspiration again and again!

I was taken by the fact that most of the houses, 75 to be exact, are what we would define as duplexes or zero-lot-line homes.  Yet, they are very large in scale, featuring high ceilings, large windows, and charming balconies.  Each home has its own yard and driveway. Several even have a small neighborhood retail shop on the first floor or tucked to the side.

Creation of the White Village

In April of 1898, a group of Danish workers sought a piece of land to divide into “suitable plots”.  They found this 50,000 square meters (12.4 acres), triangle-shaped lot on the outskirts of Valby and divided the site into 81 plots.  While a single train stop away from Copenhagen’s main train station today, it was not even served by the horse-driven trolleys and was then considered to be out in the countryside. The Danish workers formed a “building society” to develop the village and paid 37,000 kroner for the land. The society recruited 34 year old architect, Christian E. Mandrup Poulsen to draw up a site plan.  Featuring 75 semi-attached houses and five single houses, the plan was executed over the next fifteen years and stands today much like it was built. Each house featured two apartments - one for the owner and one to rent.

For my density-sensitive readers, I have done the math for you.  81 units on 12.36 acres is a density of 6.55 units per acre, plus retail shops, a playground, and sidewalks.

The houses were simple and congruent, yet unique.  White buildings, red tile roofs, green Dannebrog windows, green fences, and hedges.  So many hedges. Hedges are clearly a Scandinavian thing.

While the houses were built by and for the working class by a “building society” or what we might now call a co-op development, today they are highly sought out for the quality, the design, and proximity to central Copenhagen. There was no master developer involved and apparently no zoning or regulations.  Reading the history, financing this project was difficult and took many years – however, the vision was faithfully executed.

Since its inception, the neighborhood association holds strict attention to the details of the exterior of the houses but what happens inside the hedges and the walls remains the domain of the homeowners. 

As time passes

In 2017 I stayed in an outbuilding or what is called an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) of one of the four single-family homes. This building had once been the kitchen for the home and had been transformed into a bright and charming efficiency and short-term rental.  It was just one more use, adapted for the time, of the buildings in this neighborhood.  Reading back through the history, as best I could with translation, it seems that each of the homes were individually owned at completion, although there were times when they were divided into apartments or featured rooms for rent.  All of these configurations occurred while keeping the vision, design, and style in place. 

Even more than my first encounter with this charming village – I am captivated by its history.  As if I need another reason to return to Copenhagen!!

Expect more posts!

Sources for the history and images of Valby’s White Village are found here:

http://www.denhvideby.dk/HannesKat/100aarogetkvarter.pdf

http://www.denhvideby.dk/