H.C.Andersen Hus Museum / Kengo Kuma & Associates

Architects: Kengo Kuma & Associates
Area: 5600 m²
Year: 2022
Photographs: Rasmus Hjortshøj- COAST
Engineering Design: Søren Jensen Engineering Consultants A/S
Landscape Design: MASU Planning
Partner in Charge of Design: Yuki Ikeguchi
Project Architect: Nicolas Guichard
Chief Project Manager: Miruna Constantinescu
Ower and User: Odense Kommune / Odense Bys Museer
Founding: A.P. Møller Fonden, Augustinus Fonden / Knud Højgaards Fond, Nordea Fonden
Consultant Until January 2020: Cornelius Vöge
Executive Architects: C&W architect
Lighting Design: Jesper Kongshaug
Exhibition Designer: EVENT Communication
City: Odense
Country: Denmark

The H.C. Andersen Hus Museum, designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, is a cultural center in Odense, Denmark, located between the city’s historic medieval district and its modern urban area. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s themes of duality—real and imaginary, nature and manmade, light and dark—the museum integrates physical spaces and gardens to dissolve boundaries and create a seamless narrative experience. Circular, non-hierarchical spaces are interconnected by a curvilinear green wall that meanders above and below ground, blending the underground exhibition areas with the garden above. The garden features maze-like paths and sunken gardens that serve as portals between the subterranean museum and the natural world, creating a harmonious blend of architecture and landscape. Designed to evolve over time, the garden will mature, reflecting seasonal changes while enhancing visitors’ connection to nature. The project also reconnects the medieval town with the modern city by closing a major road and creating a public space that bridges the two areas. Despite challenges during the pandemic, the project embodies Andersen’s themes of adaptation and resilience, emphasizing the timeless relevance of his work.

“At that time, it was just a dream, but recently I began to think it’s not a dream — it’s the reality of the future.”
Interview with Kengo Kuma of Kengo Kuma and Associates

H. C. Andersen hus museum / kengo kuma & associates

The project involves the creation of a new building for the H.C. Andersen Museum, along with a garden and cultural center, situated in the heart of Andersen’s birthplace. The site lies between a residential area featuring small, traditional wooden houses from the Middle Ages and a newly developed urban area in Odense.

The stories conveyed within this project extend beyond written form, inviting visitors to experience them physically through the museum’s spaces and garden. H.C. Andersen’s writings reflect profound themes drawn from his life and journey, portraying the coexistence of dualities: real and imaginary, nature and manmade, human and animal, light and dark. These opposites are interwoven rather than distinctly separate. The architectural and landscape design aims to embody this essence, capturing the complexity and harmony of Andersen’s work in built form.

© rasmus hjortshøj- coast — H.C.Andersen Hus Museum / Kengo Kuma & Associates 33

The museum spaces consist of a series of interconnected circular forms, arranged like a chain in a non-hierarchical and non-centric layout. A continuous curvilinear green wall follows the structure of the underground spaces, defining the garden and pathways above the ground. This wall meanders throughout the site, weaving above and below the ground, creating a fluid transition between interior and exterior spaces. Visitors move through a sequence of intertwined areas where the green wall alternately appears and disappears, embodying a narrative inspired by Andersen’s work. The design reflects the duality of opposites and the dissolution of boundaries, expressed through spatial composition and intentional ambiguity.

The exhibition spaces are situated underground, while the garden above is designed as a curvilinear hedge that mirrors the layout of the spaces below. Meandering paths in the garden serve as an extension of the museum experience, where the architectural presence is softened, leading visitors into a maze-like setting formed by trees and foliage. Sunken gardens link the underground exhibition areas to the surface, appearing as “holes” in the ground that act as portals between a fairytale-like world and the external environment. The landscape architecture integrates natural and built elements, creating a distinctive and immersive experience.

The completion of the building marks the start of the garden’s evolution, as it is designed to grow and establish its roots over time. In the coming years, the garden will mature, providing visitors and the community with an evolving experience of nature through seasonal changes, shifting colors, scents, density, transparency, and scenic views. The H.C. Andersen Museum is envisioned to become a central element in the reimagined urban landscape of Odense, integrating nature and culture into the city’s fabric.

The development plan includes closing one of the arterial roads to reconnect the new and old parts of the city, which are currently divided. The museum’s garden is intended to create a high-quality public space, revitalizing this transitional zone. The area surrounding the writer’s birthplace retains its medieval character, with narrow, winding streets, in contrast to the modern urban development characterized by wide, straight, fast-moving lanes. The meandering paths and hedge garden aim to reintroduce a human-scale quality, serving as a gentle bridge between the historic and urban areas of the city.

The construction of the building faced unique challenges due to the Pandemic, which introduced unforeseen obstacles in areas such as sequencing, planning, and sourcing. The familiar realities and norms of daily operations were disrupted by an intangible and incomprehensible cause. This experience evoked the essence of Andersen’s world of fairytales, reflecting a struggle against the invisible and a need to adapt and navigate the unknown. Even today, his stories continue to resonate, offering insights into such experiences.