City Hall
Clock
Clock
City Hall
Clock
Objects
1955
City Hall
Clock
Clock
Originally designed forRødovre Town Hall
City Hall Clock
The City Hall clock demonstrates the trend towards simplified form and taut minimalism that characterized Arne Jacobsen's aesthetics during the 1950s.
YEAR:
1955
WORK OF ARCHITECTURE:
Rødovre Town Hall
DESIGN:
Arne Jacobsen
Photo: Stjernegaard Fotografi.
Arne Jacobsen designed the City Hall clock as part of the elaborate total design he created for Rødovre Town Hall. The minimalist clock design, which is without numerals, reflects the precise and stringent aesthetic of the architecture.
During his six decades long career, Arne Jacobsen not only designed buildings and furniture but also a wide range of graphic designs. Many of the typefaces, patterns, posters and clocks created by Arne Jacobsen were designed for specific architecture projects, where every single detail was carefully worked out and adapted to the larger whole. The City Hall clock helped create an atmosphere of modernity and rationality at Rødovre Town Hall until it was put into production a few years after the project’s completion.
Print of the City Hall clock face with measurements. Photo: Royal Danish Library - Danish National Art Library.
Rødovre Town Hall. Photo: Aage Strüwing © Jørgen Strüwing.
This simplification of form reached a preliminary culmination in 1956 with the realization of Rødovre Town Hall, which Arne Jacobsen designed as two clear-cut boxes clad with Solvåg marble and glazed curtain-wall exteriors. The City Hall clock demonstrates the same trend towards simplified form and taut minimalism.
The movement towards minimalism and abstraction is a consistent aspect of the development of Arne Jacobsen’s aesthetic over the course of the 1950s. This simplification of form reached a preliminary culmination in 1956 with the realization of Rødovre Town Hall, which Arne Jacobsen designed as two clear-cut boxes clad with Solvåg marble and glazed curtain-wall exteriors. The City Hall clock demonstrates the same trend towards simplified form and taut minimalism. By replacing the numerals with simple lines Arne Jacobsen achieved the stringent, precise expression that has made City Hall an iconic and eternally modern clock design.
Sources: Arne Jacobsen Design Archives. / Arne Jacobsen’s scrapbooks. The Royal Library – Danish Art Library. / Stenum Poulsen, K., Skaarup Larsen, A., & Staunsager, S. (2020). Arne Jacobsen – Designing Denmark. Kolding: Trapholt. / Thau, C., & Vindum, K. (1998). Arne Jacobsen. Copenhagen: Danish Architectural Press. / Tøjner, P. E., & Vindum, K. (1994). Arne Jacobsen: arkitekt & designer. Copenhagen: Dansk Design Center.
Today, the City Hall clock, manufactured by Rosendahl, features Arne Jacobsen’s name in his original typeface on the clock face. Photo: Rosendahl.
Office at Rødovre Town Hall with the City Hall clock visible on the back wall, 1956. Photo: Aage Strüwing © Jørgen Strüwing.
More designs from rødovre town hall
