We know how to create the right impression

"Elephant's skin" facade for the concert hall

When we cast the visible surfaces of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation´s concert hall, we carefully planned and successfully repeated an accidental event that happened 80 years ago. The texture of the concrete surface is called “elephant's skin”, the architects at Ateliers Jean Nouvel being inspired by the “Schindler House” – a private residence completed in 1922 in Los Angeles, USA.

Inspiration from Hollywood

Back in the 1920s, when architect and engineer R.M. Schindler was building his studio and private residence in LA, he experimented with different materials in the casting process, like soap, fabric and newspapers. The aim was to get the concrete to slip the casting mould.

It didn't go quite as planned, but the special combination produced a texture in the concrete which was later to make both him and the house well-known. The texture is called “elephant's skin” because that is exactly what the surface resembles.

A style without support

Schindler's construction method was also called the “Tilt form”, and was just one of many new methods he tested without gaining recognition at the time.

The casting process itself was highly challenging for workmen at that time and difficult to control compared to the prevalent type of construction. It meant that banks in ultra-conservative LA refused to lend Schindler money for his experiments. Fortunately he completed a number of houses in the characteristic style before he was forced to change direction.

Same accidental result, repeated with care

The Schindler House on Kings Road in Hollywood was a particular inspiration to architect Jean Nouvel when he was pondering a texture for the facade of the concert hall.

In collaboration with Spæncom and MT Højgaard, the architects developed a somewhat easier method to achieve the desired result. Although less problematic than in the 1920s, we nevertheless made more than 30 different tests before we were satisfied.

We lined the concrete mould with oversize barrier film. The excess film pressed the concrete in different directions, the folds creating random patterns for each casting. That was exactly how Jean Nouvel wanted it, and when he inspected the walls at the end of February, he was tremendously satisfied.

So you can say that we restaged an old accident, with great care and great success.