LOUISIANA MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

Humlebæk, Denmark

The opening of the Louisiana in 1958 was as much a moment for modernist architecture as it was for contemporary art. Guided by the existing lake and woodland of a peaceful site 20 miles north of Copenhagen, its low-slung network of pavilions and corridors was designed by Jørgen Bo and Wilhelm Wohlert as the antithesis of the forbidding state museums found in Europe’s capital cities. Stuffy halls were swapped for sea views, gardens dotted with sculpture and contemplative spaces for visitors to rest and reflect on the collection. Danish cheese manufacturer Knud W Jensen might have made for an unlikely founder, but his vision of an informal museum set in nature sparked what is now one of the world’s most loved. louisiana.dk