In the aftermath of World War II the United States’ position as an emerging global superpower required an increased diplomatic presence abroad. Overseen by the U.S. State Department’s Federal Building Operations (FBO), the three decades prior to World War II saw the construction of embassies, consulates and staff housing throughout Europe, South America, Asia and Africa. These Embassies were designed to be outward expressions of American ideals and were A-historical often in stark contrast to other foreign diplomatic offices. With these projects the State department made a conscious effort to use architecture as a vehicle to promote the United States as a political and cultural force asserting an idea of a young, progressive and modern nation. The projects were given to private architecture firms that were contracted with the State Department in an attempt to create a diversity of architecturally significant works. The Embassy of the Untied states of America in Copenhagen opened to the public on May 27 1954 (Us Embassy Building in Copenhagen, Stolckholm and Paris”, 245). Designed by the American architects Ralph Rapson and John van der Meulen, the embassy was awarded the Danish government’s Danish Medal while the New York Times reported, “all modernists in Copenhagen are delighted by the $1,000,000 structure, which took two years to build (Soerensoen, 2). Rapson gained the embassy commission in Copenhagen, as well as the commission to design embassies in Stockholm and The Hague, through a connection with Hans Knoll. Knoll Associates had been contracted with the FBO in 1951 as consultants, and to provide furnishings, for the U.S. embassy being built in Havana (Hession, 95). Hans Knoll convinced Rapson, then a professor at MIT, to contact Fredrick Larkin and Leland King, the director and assistant director of the FBO. Larkin and Leland had been given the tasks of acquiring sites and architects for each of the new embassy projects . While the FBO was a relatively small department within the US State Department Larkin and King had been granted near sovereignty in regards to site, architect and design selection. A comfortable budget was assured for each project through a variety of funding streams including debt credits incurred under the terms of the Marshall Plan as well as $100 million in credits and $15 million in dollars authorized by congress in 1946 (Loeffler, 50). In 1951 when Rapson met with Larkin and King in Washington DC plans for embassies in Copenhagen, Stockholm and The Hague were being developed. Less than a month later Rapson was on his way to Europe with all three of the high-profile commissions. In each of the embassies Rapson partnered with fellow American architect John van der Meulen who provided a technical and structural expertise . The FBO insisted that their American architects worked with a local architect in order to navigate foreign codes, zoning, construction procedures and climate for each embassy project. Rapson and van er Meulen were partnered with Swedish architect Andres Tengbom and it was out of Tengbom offices in Stockholm that the Copenhagen and Stockholm embassies were designed (Us Embassy Building in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Paris, 242). Programmatically, the Copenhagen embassy was developed through loose requirements mandated by the FBO. The concept of a modern Embassy however was largely void of precedents in the early 1950s, as previous Embassies had always corresponded with an Ambassador’s residence. To better understand the procedures that would eventually take place in the building Rapson met with and interviewed embassy employees, military attaches and security personnel. Through this it was concluded that the embassy should be “architecturally modern, open and inviting and should function well as a place of business while being bold, dynamic and user-friendly” (Hession , 101)

The embassy has been altered, however specific dates regarding each alteration are unavailable. A new entrance has been built on the front facade. Originally the embassy was accessed through a revolving door that brought visitors and embassy employees into the glazed lobby. Presumably due to security issues, this door has been removed and the glazed lobby has been fenced in. The new entrance projects off of the main plane of the front facade and is accessed by a ramp. There is a metal awning over the new entrance and is supported by thin metal columns.

The Embassy of the United States of America in Copenhagen still serves its original purpose.

The Embassy of the United States of America in Copenhagen occupies a rectangular site on Osterbrogarden Avenue. The embassy is raised above street level by a series three steps and is set behind an allee of trees. Designed to appear as three suspended rectangular modules, the embassy consists of a two-story office block, a ground floor library and auditorium and a rear ground floor office wing. These spaces are connected through a glazed lobby that is recessed beneath the two-story office block. This office block is supported by a series of regularly spaced piloti. The one-story library and auditorium block is set beneath the office block but projects outwards, while the ground floor one-story office wing is to the rear but extends past the other pieces of the structure and thus can be seen from the street. The two-story office block is clad in a regular rhythm of operable aluminum windows that sit above aluminum spandrel panels. Each floor plate is articulated on the facade by a thin granite stringcourse. The interior spaces are defined by non-load baring wood and glass partition walls in units that allow for easy rearrangement. Due to past alterations the original circulation has been changed. The revolving doors that served as the main entrance to the embassy have been removed and a fence has been interjected in front of the glazed lobby. A new entrance has been built on the front facade that is accessible by a ramp and provides a more secure entrance. There is a metal awning supported by thin metal columns that covers this new entrance.

The Embassy of the United States of America in Copenhagen is built on a reinforced concrete frame. Circular columns that are set back from the walls support the main beams that run parallel to the main facade. Smaller joists at right angles are spaced at approximately four-foot intervals. Floors are of a marbleized plastic tile and ceilings are suspended and are a sound-absorbent perforated plaster tile backed with fiberglass and aluminum foil. Offices have fluorescent lighting tubes set in louvered recessed troughs (Us Embassy Building in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Paris, 242).

The Copenhagen embassy is sited on Osterbregade Avenue, which connects the center of Copenhagen with its northern residential suburbs. When the embassy was being designed the City Plan of Copenhagen mandated that the structure maintain a vernacular Scandinavian appearance to tie it in with the Canadian Embassy next door (Hession, 101). However, Rapson and van der Meulen’s modern design was eventually approved on the condition that the new building maintained the existing cornice-line of the street and that the main block was set back 23 feet. The embassy was thus constricted in size in order not overwhelm its traditionally scaled and aesthetically similar neighbors.

The Embassy of the United States of America in Copenhagen did not debut any new construction techniques nor did it utilize any new materials in any particularly novel ways. The flexibility of the interior spaces however was dependant on an innovative HVAC system. The ventilation system was designed to avoid using trunk ducts and dropped ceilings along the normal corridor line. Instead, riser ducts at circulation and service centers lead to distribution plenums between the joists and tubular ducts, cast in the floor slab, supplying washed and heated air at each window. From every two four-foot bays a return duct recirculates the air to the risers and fans, so that no room is without the supply and return air (Us embassy building in Copenhagen, Stockholm and paris, 241).

The numerous embassy projects undertaken by the FBO during the thirty years subsequent to World War II were built to accommodate the United States’ new and influential position in global politics. When choosing appropriate architects for each of the new embassies Fredrick Larkin consider both those who had established careers such as Walter Gropius, who designed the U.S. embassy in Athens, as well as architects who were just beginning to gain recognition. In either case, the architect that was chosen was to execute their respective commission in a modern way. The modern movement, which took root in Europe during the early-twentieth century, had by the 1950s successfully transplanted to the United States were it became particularly popular in the expression of corporate architecture. The decision to articulate the United States’ political presence abroad in aesthetically modern buildings helped signify the United States as a modern nation whose political structure differed both from the Soviets as well as the old governments of Europe. Ralph Rapson and John van der Meulen’s US embassy in Copenhagen demonstraits this concern and was designed to appear open and inclusive with only one entrance for both the general public as well as embassy employees.

In its unaltered state The Embassy of the United States of America in Copenhagen would have appeared largely transparent with the library, reading room and auditorium all placed near the entrance and thus widely accessible to the public. These public spaces are articulated in the massing of the embassy making the structure easily understood from the street. While originally a constriction opposed by Copenhagen’s city planner the low slung horizontality of embassy helped the building retain a human scale. The fact that the building was recessed from the street also provided an opportunity to engage with the public, as the allee of trees helped to frame views of the embassy. These considerations created a commentary on the supposed transparency of a democratic government while disassociating the United States with the old vernacular architectural forms, themselves symbols of European Empire and the political climate that brought upon World War II.

When The Embassy of the United States of America in Copenhagen was completed in May of 1954 it was generally considered a success. While Rapson and van der Meulen’s design was not particularly inventive in its architectural treatment, the embassy’s design correlated to the post World War II architectural environment. Rapson, who was 37 when given the Copenhagen embassy commission, had studied architecture during the 1930s at a time when the architectural ideals of the Bauhaus and Le Corbusier were potent (Lathrop, 107). This influence can be obviously seen in the piloti, planar facades, and glass and metal grid of the embassy building. The building would go on to win the Danish government’s Danish Medal in 1955, while the New York Times lauded that the “Modernistic U.S. Embassy in Denmark is a Sensation” (Soerens 1). Perhaps the most innovative piece of the Copenhagen embassy is the way in which the program was dealt with in the separation of public and private spaces.

It is easy to dismiss The Embassy of the United States of America in Copenhagen upon its altered appearance today. The fencing off of and removal of the original entrance and the addition of the ramp and the new entrance have detracted from the openness of the original scheme. These alterations make it difficult to appreciate Rapson and van der Meulen’s original intent for the embassy building as a publicly accessible and easily understandable structure. When it was completed the Copenhagen embassy project fit neatly into the canon of post war modern design and can be seen as a reflection of American optimism in democracy and capitalism. The program for foreign embassies was largely undetermined when the Copenhagen project was being designed. As Ides Van der Gratcht, the regional director of the FBO who oversaw the construction of both the Copenhagen and Stockholm embassy projects, stated in regard to the two projects “most Europeans still envisage the Embassy in terms of the Congress of Vienna or the movie ‘Roman Holiday’” (Hession, 103). Through both the Copenhagen and Stockholm embassy projects Rapson and van der Meulen significantly aided in the creation of the modern embassy typology.

Cremmen, Mary. \"U. S. Embassies Around the World." Daily Boston Globe (1928-1960): 2. Jan 05 1958. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Boston Globe (1872-1981). Web. 11 Feb. 2013.Hession, Jane King, Rip Rapson, and Bruce N. Wright. Ralph Rapson: Sixty Years of Modern Design. Afton, MN: Afton Historical Society, 1999. Lathrop, Alan K. Minnesota Architects: A Biographical Dictionary. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2010. Print.Loeffler, Jane C. The Architecture of Diplomacy: Building America's Embassies. New York: Princeton Architectural, 1998.Soerensoen, Aage. Special to The New,York Times. "Modernistic U. S. Embassy in Denmark is a Sensation." New York Times (1923-Current file): 5. Jun 08 1954. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2009) with Index (1851-1993). Web. 11 Feb. 2013 .STUART PRESTON. "The State Department Builds Abroad." New York Times (1923-Current file): 61. Dec 29 1957. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2009) with Index (1851-1993). Web. 11 Feb. 2013 .“Us Architecture Abroad.” Architectural Forum 98 (March1953):100-112.“Us Embassy Building in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Paris.” Architectural Review 118 (October 1955):240-247.