Orange walls in Copenhagen

July 28, 2020 5:19 AM

An American redditor asks: What is the story with that funky orange/red that shows up on Copenhagen walls?
Small discussion ensues, and an architecture student posts an explainer video about Paint and Color in Denmark
posted by growabrain (8 comments total)

Nyboder is a historic row house district of former Naval barracks in Copenhagen. It was planned and first built by Christian IV to accommodate a need for housing for the personnel of the rapidly growing Royal Danish Navy and their families during that time. While the area is still commonly associated with the name of its founder as one of his numerous building projects around Copenhagen, the Nyboder seen today was in fact, except for a single row of houses in St. Paulsgade, built from 1757
posted by growabrain at 5:23 AM on July 28, 2020

so a bit like Falu red, then.
posted by scruss at 7:22 AM on July 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

Falu Red previous
posted by ovvl at 11:47 AM on July 28, 2020

I didn’t know milk paint was suitable for exteriors. I've made it for several furniture projects but the recipe I followed didn’t call for any sort of cooking. It's got a lot of pluses but can be frustrating if you're trying to get a perfectly smooth even coat. I've seen Danish painted pine furniture from the late 1700 into the 1800s asking with huge price tags - much more than mahogany or or other fancy looking woods.
posted by bonobothegreat at 12:04 PM on July 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

I personally like the dark blue paint featured in the video better. That's a pretty color.


From the document included in the youtube video "DEN KLASSISKE PIGMENT-FARVESKALA" it's called ultramarine blue and was originally made from Lapis lazuli rocks imported from Afghanistan. Ultramarine blue was expensive and dates from the 1400s.

The first blue in the doc is called 'berliner blue', which is more commonly called 'Prussian Blue or Parisian Blue'. It was a synthetic, and was much cheaper. It became more common in the 1700s.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:55 PM on July 28, 2020 [2 favorites]

Lovely!
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:39 PM on July 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

I love Cope. Miss it.
posted by bz at 8:59 AM on July 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

My school, in a suburb of Copenhagen, was one of the yellows from the video. I'd never thought of it as being tied into a historical color palate. Neat!
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:08 AM on August 3, 2020 [1 favorite]