216 / 221
Vast expanses of glass roofs already characterised the buildings in the Nordic
Exhibition and came do even more so in Copenhagen City Hall, where the span
in the double glass roof over the Main Hall is a technical feet in steel-girder
rafters.
In 1900 Nyrop was assigned the project of designing a new church for
Vesterbros Torv in Copenhagen, and in this building not only the modernity of
the glass roof but also the rock-like façade of the church stand out in the
Copenhagen surroundings. The rather rough sandstone facing Vesterbros Torv
also resemble contemporary projects by the two Finnish architects Elien
Saarinen and Lars Sonck, who around the previous turn of century invented a
rugged neo-national Finnish style of stonework building.
Evidently Martin Nyrop knew what he was doing, but in physical appearance
he was not terribly impressive. Viggo Møller-Jensen, son of Jens Moller-Jensen,
the mural painter of the City Hall, and himself a professor of architecture a
generation later than Nyrop, has given a description of him:
»It seems difficult to describe the person Martin Nyrop now, such a long time
after his death. I myself met him in my parents’ home in 1920 when I was
thirteen. He lived on the Gentofte-side of Gentofte Lake, we on the Vangede-side.
My father was very happy to tell us that Master Nyrop was coming to tea with
his wife and daughter, Ernestine.
I remember him as a quiet kind gentleman with light blue eyes and a grey
moustache. This was the year before he died. It was said of him that he was a
man of few words. On a certain occasion he was to give a speech. He rose from
his chair and mentioned a place name which he believed everybody present at
the meeting could associate with the purpose of the meeting, proposed a toast
and sat down. Physically he was not tall, but he had an erect carriage and was
thickset with a round distinctive head, short grey hair and a thick moustache. He
might be taken for a farmer or a country master builder, quietly and confidently
at rest with his talents and achievements.
He is excellently portrayed on a painting by P.S. Krøyer, which hangs over a
door in the City Hall. Flanking him are Emil Jorgensen, clerk of works, and M r
Krone, foreman bricklayer. They are depicted standing on the building by the
merlon behind the statues of the watchmen, enjoying the view of the city in fine
weather. Martin Nyrop, in the middle, is the smallest of the three. He is wearing
no hat, is holding an inch rule and a draft, which they are in the process of
discussing.«
218