The Viking Ship Museum: A Criticized Masterpiece in Transition

The Viking Ship Museum’s ship hall, built in the late 1960s, is an international masterpiece that has faced extensive criticism. The building is constantly threatened by storm surges, yet its architectural philosophy is so thoroughly conceived that it is likely to endure.

It takes no more than three steps inside the entrance to experience its grandeur. The landscape’s beautiful horizon and the fjord are framed by a massive glass wall with square windowpanes.

At the heart of the space, five slender, elegant Viking ships seem to hover—reconstructed piece by piece in the museum’s grand hall during its first 24 years of existence. The building’s concrete is as delicate as the engineers could justify, adding another layer to the experience: the architecture is modern, linear, and brutal in its expression, forming a stark contrast to the poetry and lightness with which the Viking ships were originally built.

Brutalism at Its Finest

Although the Viking Ship Museum has faced heavy criticism, particularly for turning its back on the city, the building is recognized as an international masterpiece of brutalist architecture – largely due to the two mentioned qualities.
Brutalism’s raw concrete forms are a crucial part of the museum’s aesthetic. Functionalism’s fondness for concrete evolved in the 1950s when architects abroad began using the material in a free and rustic manner. In Denmark, this trend culminated with the Viking Ship Hall, where the concrete structures remain untreated and fully visible – an honest architecture where all structural elements and joints are exposed.

Climate Change Threatens the Museum

The hall was designed by Erik Christian Sørensen as a large display case where the ships are presented in a balanced contrast between refined materials and the rawness of brutalism. The ships rest in basins filled with beach stones, while the waters of Roskilde Fjord lap against the museum’s vast glass panels – an evocative staging of the ships in their natural element, bringing history to life.

However, the museum’s very location – so close to the fjord – has become its greatest challenge. In 2013, the building was struck by the storm “Bodil,” which caused the water level in Roskilde Fjord to rise two meters above normal. The water reached the museum’s windows, which, despite reinforcements, were close to breaking.

A New Future for the Viking Ship Museum

In 2018, the Viking Ship Hall lost its protected status to make way for new construction. Storm surges and climate change threatened the iconic brutalist building and plans for a new home for the invaluable Viking ships raised questions about the hall’s future. Its fate seemed sealed – the building was to be demolished.

But fate took a turn. The new exhibition building would be constructed elsewhere on the museum grounds – without sacrificing the existing hall.

In 2028, the invaluable Viking ships will be relocated to a new climate-secured exhibition building designed by Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects. The museum will be placed on higher ground to protect the ships from future storm surges, while the surrounding landscape will be transformed into a coastal meadow capable of absorbing water masses and restoring the original flora.

Although the ships will have a new home, the Viking Ship Hall will remain – not as a relic of the past, but as a preserved cultural icon, adapted to a new era and new purposes.