The brief:

More than eight million people pass through the main entrance to the Fisketorvet shopping centre each year.

A massive refurbishment project in 2012 meant that it was necessary to create a temporary entrance. A 30-metre-long gloomy and unexciting tunnel through the shopping centre’s underground bicycle parking facility was the only possibility. The agency was asked to make this temporary access route an uplifting experience and not a source of irritation for visitors.

The solution:

The solution was to bring Copenhagen and all its beauty down below ground level.

We produced a wealth of illustrations which were inspired by the 97 bridges in Copenhagen that connect the city’s many small oases and districts. The result was eight evocative islands built up around Copenhagen’s landmark buildings and memorials. The illusion was reinforced by a huge wall covering and a creaking wooden ‘footbridge’ to enhance the feeling of being suspended between the floating islands. To complete the experience, an audio installation was created which followed visitors as they passed through the tunnel.

The result:

Customers showered praise on the entrance, with many of them asking whether it was possible to buy posters of the illustrations to take home. The many complaints which had been expected on the basis of past experience never materialised. So Fisketorvet didn’t just get a temporary entrance in an underground bicycle parking facility but a small yet intense subterranean Copenhagen adventure they were sorry to say goodbye to.

The idea was to create a spectacular adventure involving Fisketorvet, Copenhagen and all the senses to make Fisketorvet a natural part of the shopping experience for residents and tourist in Copenhagen.