Arches missing in front of ambulatory
The area in front of the Ambulatory does not quite resemble its normal self at the moment as the original yellow brick arches facing Nordre Ringgade have been replaced by mounds of earth and excavators.
However, it is only for a short while, assures Charlotte Lyngholm, head of construction and planning:
“Basically, the arches had started to crack in some places because of subsidence. Therefore it was necessary to take them down, so that we can replace them with a new row,” says Charlotte Lyngholm, while adding that the new pillars will stand on more solid foundations: “The new pillars will be anchored 10 metres down in the ground before we rebuild them, which should be enough to prevent the same thing from reoccurring.”
Not quite ready for new academic year
The new arches will not be completely ready before new students start arriving at the beginning of September. According to Charlotte Lyngholm, it was necessary to wait before demolishing the original pillars until the summer holiday period to avoid disturbing students sitting exams and other activities. Consequently, the construction work will not be completed before the new semester:
“A project like this takes slightly longer when you are dealing with a unique historical structure such as Aarhus University. Among other things, we needed to use the old bricks when firing the new ones to achieve just the right shape and colour. This obviously meant that we were unable to start producing the new bricks before the old pillars had been demolished.”
If everything goes according to schedule, the new brick arches will stand in front of the Ambulatory from week 40.
Facts about the arches at Aarhus University:
- The arches survived intact when the main building received an unintended hit during the Royal Air Force raid on the Gestapo headquarters in the Student Halls of Residence in the University Park on 31 October 1944
- The main building with the “romantic” arches was inaugurated in 1946
- The building distinguished itself considerably from the otherwise functional and angular university buildings – and actually against the architect C. F. Møller’s own aesthetic ideals
- The choice of yellow brick and roof tiles were unusual for the time, and the university building in Aarhus was the first time in Denmark to see them being used on this scale
- C. F. Møller was inspired by the Tuscan town of San Gimignano, where the walls and roofs have the same grey-yellow colour
- Today, the arches and pillars are key elements in Aarhus University’s iconography
