#Product Trends
Shoal No.8, Fisketorvet Mall
Copenhagen, Denmark
Scabetti is the British design studio established by Dominic and Frances Bromley in 1999. Known initially for their range of interior ceramics, the studio has built an international reputation- specialising in the creation of bespoke sculpture, lighting and installation works. Their portfolio includes commissions in corporate headquarters, hotels, restaurants and on-board ships around the globe.
Scabetti were approached to design a statement-piece installation in the main atrium of the newly refurbished Fisketorvet, Copenhagen Mall back in 2012. Commissioned by Unibail-Rodamco, the Staffordshire based studio began working with architects DesignGroup, and interior designers Saguez & Partners alongside IMLC, to determine a future interior vision for Fisketorvet.
From 1953 until 1999, the Sydhavnen was home to the city’s fish market. It is upon this site, that Fisketorvet, the mall carrying its name would be built. Now the third largest shopping mall in Denmark, with over 120 stores, a cinema and various restaurants, this venue also houses Denmark’s largest coral reef aquarium with 450 colourful fish, 30 live corals, anemones and starfish.
For Unibail-Rodamco becoming the destination for the ultimate retail experience also entails showcasing visually stunning and thought provoking sculpture. Creative pieces that are in stark contrast to the attention grabbing commercial facades yet can lend themselves effortlessly to the context. Offering visual stimulation of a different kind, encouraging a pause to the fast paced retail environment; queue Scabetti.
Shoal No.8 is a bespoke commission for the atrium at Fisketorvet, Copenhagen Mall. At 12m tall, the sculpture is a body of 8,500 stainless steel fish, shoaling around an infinitesimal path, signifying Fisketorvet’s transition from a historical Danish fish market into the present-day shopping mall.
Leading on from Shoal1953 at the main entrance, a series of eleven unique Shoals grace the mall ceilings of both shopping levels. Featuring stainless steel fish of the same scale as the china Shoal at the main entrance, these sculptural features weave a wandering path along the malls. While the main body guides visitors along the malls towards the main atrium, smaller spurs draw attention to shops along the way.
For the main atrium, a diverse range of concepts were proposed and developed alongside the Saguez & Partners team, with Scabetti’s contemporary interpretation of a shoaling mass of fish being chosen as Fisketorvet’s new centrepiece.
Designed to be the strong focal point the centre’s 4-storey atrium called for, Scabetti’s feature is a mass of 8,500 polished stainless steel fish, each 46cm (1’6”) in length, following a pulsating, twisting, infinitesimal looping path. The organic shape is a study of nature, replicating the bait-ball shoaling patterns of the Atlantic mackerel, one of Northern Europe’s most ubiquitous fish, surely a mainstay of the sites original fish market.
Taking inspiration from the history of Fisketorvet, the Scabetti team wanted to reference the legacy of the former fish market, evoking past industry and dynamism, whilst referencing its transition into Copenhagen’s harbour side leisure plaza. From certain angles, the sculptures looping path resembles the infinity symbol (∞), symbolising this change.
The familiarity of this shape made the choice of name for the sculpture a logical one, Shoal No. 8.
