Plastic Borromini

In Denmark Lenschow & Pihlmann and Mikael Stenström reinterpreted Borromini’s most famous church in Rome with a steel structure covered in strong plastic.

Lenschow & Pihlmann, Mikael Stenström, The Orangery, Gl. Holtegaard Art gallery, Holte, Denmark

Lenschow & Pihlmann and Mikael Stenström’s Orangery is situated in formal gardens at Gl. Holtegaard Art gallery in the northern part of sealand, Denmark.

The Orangery links the Baroque era to our current day in the form of a strong, artistic work that presents itself as a unified whole.

The pavilion is a reinterpretation of one of the most iconic buildings of the Baroque era: the church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane in Rome designed by the architect Francesco Borromini (1599–1667). Borromini used basic geometric shapes, circles and ovals to create a dynamic church space of great beauty.

The new orangery in the formal gardens at Gl. Holtegaard takes its point of departure in the floor plan of Borromini’s building.

Resembling a sketch of the original church space, the Orangery consists of a steel structure that has been covered in strong plastic – specifically a type of “shrink wrap” developed to protect cars, boats and other large objects.

Inside this space is a living orangery where citrus plants hang from the dome. This reinterpreted orangery fuses a classic shape with our current high-tech world; a world full of materials that are not intended to be beautiful, but purely to meet specific utilitarian needs.