The A. P. Møller School is a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 gymnasium

Gymnasium (school)

A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...

 in Schleswig (Danisch: Slesvig), Southern Schleswig

Southern Schleswig

Southern Schleswig denotes the southern half of the former Duchy of Schleswig on the Jutland Peninsula. The geographical area today covers the thirty or forty northernmost kilometers of Germany up to the Flensburg Fjord, where it borders on Denmark...

, Germany. Inaugurated in September 2008, it was a gift to the Danish minority of Southern Schleswig

Danish minority of Southern Schleswig

The Danish ethnic minority in Southern Schleswig, Germany, has existed by this name since 1920, when the Schleswig Plebiscite split German-ruled Schleswig into two parts: Northern Schleswig, with a Danish majority and a German minority was united with Denmark, while Southern Schleswig remained a...

 from the A. P. Møller Foundation.

The school is situated at a scenic site, overlooking the Schlei Inlet

Schlei

The Schlei is a narrow inlet of the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. It stretches for approximately 20 miles from the Baltic near Kappeln and Arnis to the city of Schleswig. Along the Schlei are many small bays and swamps...

. Built without traditional budget restraints to the design of C. F. Møller Architects

Arkitektfirmaet C. F. Møller

Arkitektfirmaet C. F. Møller, internationally also known as C. F. Møller Architects, is an architectural firm based in Århus, Denmark. Founded in 1924 by C. F. Møller, it is today the largest architectural firm in Denmark based on number of employed architects. About half the revenue is earned...

, the school is noted for the high quality of its architecture and the materials used and won 2010 RIBA European Award

RIBA European Award

RIBA European Awards are part of an award program by the Royal Institute of British Architects. Complemented by the RIBA National and International Awards, it rewards "the excellent work being done by RIBA members in the European Union outside the UK". Awarded annually, it is given to a varying...

 for its design. Furniture include Arne Jacobsen

Arne Jacobsen

Arne Emil Jacobsen, usually known as Arne Jacobsen, was a Danish architect and designer. He is remembered for contributing so much to architectural Functionalism as well as for the worldwide success he enjoyed with simple but effective chair designs.-Early life and education:Arne Jacobsen was born...

 sofas and chairs and artwork includes a light installation of the solar system

Solar System

The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...

 by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson

Olafur Eliasson

Olafur Eliasson is a Danish-Icelandic artist known for sculptures and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer’s experience. In 1995 he established Studio Olafur Eliasson in Berlin, a laboratory for spatial research...

.

The school is designed using principles from the Danish education system. As a result the new school building comprises a variety of flexible spaces that can adapt to the self-driven and varied learning experiences that are encouraged.

History

The A. P. Møller School is built on the former military barracks

Barracks

Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...

 site "Auf der Freiheit" (Danish: På Friheden), just east of the Schleswig city centre.

Building

The A. P. Møller School is structured around two large, central toplit spaces, one containing common areas with a canteen, reception hall and knowledge centre on three storeys, and the other being a larger sports and multi-purpose hall with three arenas. Communal stairwaus fouble as an Amphitheatre for a large, sloping copper roof connects these two spatial elements, with the masonry built in yellow bricks.

The school’s physical location and design take a point of departure in the site’s interaction with the town of Schleswig and Slien Fjord, as well as in the desire to create timeless architecture.

Curriculum

The school teaches both Danish and German on a native-speaker level. All other topics are instructed in Danish.

Awards

• 2010 RIBA European Award
  RIBA European Award
  RIBA European Awards are part of an award program by the Royal Institute of British Architects. Complemented by the RIBA National and International Awards, it rewards "the excellent work being done by RIBA members in the European Union outside the UK". Awarded annually, it is given to a varying...
  
  

External links

• Official web site
• webcast at the Monocle
  Monocle (2007 magazine)
  Monocle is a lifestyle magazine and website founded by Tyler Brûlé, a Canadian journalist and entrepreneur. Described by CBC News reporter Harry Forestell as a "meeting between Foreign Policy and Vanity Fair", the magazine provides a globalist perspective on issues as fashion, international...
  
  web site