Plans Unveiled for Redesign of Denmark's Hans Christian Andersen Museum

For the past 180 years, Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales have sparked the imaginations of millions of readers; it's only right that a museum created in his honor have a similarly inspiring affect on its visitors.

A recent competition asked designers to submit plans for a redesign of the Hans Christian Anderson Museum in Odense, Demark. The winning firm and their renderings were unveiled earlier this month in celebration of the author's would-be 112th birthday. 

Japanese architectural firm Kendo Kuma and Associated collaborated with Cornelius+Vöge Architects,  MASU Planning Landscape Architects, and Eduard Troelsgård Engineers to create a green space with magical elements befitting the author's fantastic style.

According to a press release on the City of Odense's website, the entire project will span 9000-square-meters. This will include a 5600-square-meter exhibition building, a hidden underground garden, a hedge maze, and other fairytale-like features that the city's mayor Anker Boye said form a "interconnected whole that clearly captures the spirit of both Hans Christian Andersen and Odense." 

The renderings (above) of the gardens and overall architecture do look as if they could be the world of Thumbelina or any number of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales come to life. The next step for the city and the winning firm will be to raise funding for the project, which the Odense City Museums website says is scheduled to be completed by 2020.

[h/t Curbed]

Image via Kengo Kuma and Associates.