As its name fully suggests, the architecture firm BIG has never been known to think small. Lauded and loathed in equal measure by the architectural community, no one could ever accuse founder Bjarke Ingels or his collaborators of being conservative when it comes to their concepts. Known for designing visionary buildings like Mountain Dwellings and 8-House in Copenhagen and West 57 in New York, BIG is now working on completing one of its most ambitious projects to date. Amager Bakke is far from an ordinary structure: it is the birth of a new industrial typology for the modern era.

Located in Copenhagen, Amager Bakke, also known as Amager Slope, is an innovative waste-to-energy power plant being developed by Amagerforbraending, a waste management company that currently owns a 40-year-old facility in the same location. When finished, Amager Bakke is expected to become the cleanest plant of its kind in the world. However, the plant will do much more than set a benchmark in the field of sustainable design?it will be the tallest building in Copenhagen, have a public ski slope for a roof, and boast a chimney that emits exhaust in the form of giant steam rings.
BIG?s projects are known for stirring controversy, and this one is no exception. Sitting proudly on the banks of Copenhagen?s marina, Amager Bakke is part of a larger plan to modernize and reinvent the Danish capital by 2050. Part of this plan involves building a bridge to Sweden and creating a shared water and waste mana...