It was the choice of materials, the construction of the building and the architecture, which was designed to include and welcome

people rather than to intimidate them, that motivated the less progressive part of Denmark’s leading opinion-makers to reach for

their pens. Jacobsen and Lassen, who designed everything for the city hall including all the interior furniture, opted to use marble,

steel windows and copper for the roof. This departure from the classical, Danish red bricks for walls and roof was a thorn in the

eyes to everyone from the chairman of the parish to the common man. Another element that was perceived as provocative was

how the main entrance was placed asymmetrically to the body of the building. The two childhood friends had deliberately chosen

this positioning to deviate from the monumental symmetry that was so characteristic of the older and more conservative way of

designing official buildings. The idea was to make way for a more informal democracy.