Architecture and interior design thread

Sorry, this is very long, but hopefully helpful. This sort of thing is always easier to do in a commented word processor document.

* 'Dehn’s Palace together with its twin, Bernstorff’s Palace, was built as significant parts of this historic area.'

I'd re-phrase to something like: 'Dehn’s Palace and its 'twin', Bernstorff’s Palace, were conceived and built to form a significant part of this historic area.' Perhaps also say something less bland than 'part' like 'centrepieces'.

* 'An import application for the King from the time is preserved and show us some of the materials used.'

I assume the application would have been made to the King? I don't know what the technically correct term is for such an application. 'Import application' sounds slightly odd. In doubt always spell it out: 'An application was made to the King for the import of ...'

'Shows', not 'show'.

* 'Among others: 1.800.000 bricks, 50.000 glazed roof tiles, 150 barrels of French plaster, 50 baskets of French glass, 15 chests of Pomeranian glass, 700 Pomeranian timber beams, 300 Kalmar planks, 30.000 cubical feet of Gotlandic sandstone, 3.000 Swedish tiles, 4.000 pcs 6 inch nails, 20.000 pcs 5 inch nails and 100.000 pcs 4 inch nails.'

Commas are used in English to separate parts of large numbers. The . functions as a decimal point (where the comma is used on the Continent). Hence, 1,800,000 bricks, etc.

* 'The palace is 43 metres long and stands 4 storeys tall. It is composed of 3 avant-corps with mansard roof'

Should be 'roofs'.

* 'Especially the pavilion-like avant-corps are heavily decorated'

The emphasis needs to be expressed differently, e.g. 'the pavilion-like avant-corps are decorated especially carefully/richly'. 'Heavily decorated' sounds odd and slightly oxymoronic.

* 'and the main pavilion is crested with vases, rocailles and a cartouche with the original owner’s coat of arms'

I'd say 'a cartouche featuring the original owner’s coat of arms'.

* 'The heavy influence from rococo and Eigtveds'

Eigtved's (and again a little later)

* 'However the plan and layout resembles closer the previous baroque style'

There should be a comma after 'however'. I don't think you need both 'plan' and 'layout' here. Also 'resembles more closely the baroque style'. Add 'previous' only if there was a previous baroque building on the site. If you wanted to say, quite generally and not specifically in relation to this building, that the baroque style preceded the rococo style, this would best be added in a clause like 'resembles more closely the baroque style, which preceded the rococo style'.

* 'The façade is adorned with pilasters, lesenes, friezes and cornices and is covered in beige rendering.'

I'd recommend using the 'Oxford comma' for lists, i.e. 'pilasters, lesenes, friezes, and cornices'.

* 'The ornaments are mostly cut from grey sand stone.'

'sandstone'

* 'The original main entrance was in the north pavilion and lead to a magnificent marble staircase with pompous baroque stucco and sculptures.'

'Led', not 'lead'.

'Pompous' has a different meaning in English than in Danish. I think you probably mean 'imposing'.

* 'Dehn only lived shortly in his new home.'

'Dehn only lived in his new home for a short time.'

* 'In 1762 he retired and moved home to his manor and 4 years later he managed to sell the palace.'

I'd re-phrase: 'In 1762, he retired to his manor (best to give its name, as in 'his manor of/at XXX'). Four years later, he managed to sell the palace.'

* 'The short lived ownership proved to be foretelling and the palace have had a lot of changing owners through the years.'

I'd re-phrase to something like: 'The short length of his ownership set a pattern for the palace, which changed hands many times throughout its existence.' Note that 'changing' in your version refers to the owners and not the ownership.

* 'Most notably was parts of the Danish royal family and most interestingly was a wealthy plantation owner from the Danish West Indies as well as a piano factory.'

I'd say something like: 'The most notable episodes include ownership by different (? I'm making the assumption) members of the Danish royal family, by a wealthy plantation owner from the Danish West Indies, as well as a period of use as a piano factory.' (I wouldn't try to draw a contrast between 'notable' and 'interesting' here. If you think it's important, I'd use 'curious' instead of 'interesting', which is probably closer to the seemingly intended meaning.)

* 'Christopher MacEvoy (ca. 1760 – July 26 1838) came from St. Croix of the Danish West Indies.

The date format should be clearer, e.g. either add commas before the years or say 'ca. 1760-26th July 1838'. It also should be 'in the Danish West Indies'.

* 'He was of Scottish descent, but his father was granted Danish citizenship in for his work with the plantations.'

Note the superfluous word. I'd also say specifically what his father did, e.g. 'for his work as a plantation administrator' or whatever it was. You don't say whether the son was also a Danish citizen as a result of his father's merits.

* 'MacEvoy bought Dehn’s Palace in 1820 and launched a large modernization of the interiors.'

It could be better to say 'interior', if it was the whole of the interior, or be specific about which interiors he had modernised, e.g. the conservatory and the morning room (making up examples here, of course).

* 'He assigned the notable architect Gustav Friedrich Hetsch (September 28 1788 – September 7 1864) to the task.'

See above concerning date format.

* 'MacEvoy was very wealthy, especially compared to the times of economic despair that Copenhagen went through after the Napoleonic Wars.'

This isn't clear--is it that MacEvoy lived in Copenhagen during that time (after the Napoleonic Wars) and the comparison is drawn between his wealth and that of the contemporaneous city, or did he live after that time and people still remembered that time and used it as a comparator to MacEvoy's wealth? I assume the former, so I'd re-phrase to:

'MacEvoy was very wealthy, especially considering that Copenhagen underwent times of profound economic hardship in the period after the Napoleonic Wars during which he lived in the city.'

* 'The assignment was carried out to showcase the wealth'

I'd say 'his' or 'this'.

* 'and was held in the most fashionable style at the time'

I'd say 'The assignment was carried out to showcase this wealth, and in a style that was the height of fashion at the time.'

'Held' doesn't really work here.

* 'Very expensive materials were used all over on the beletage'

I'd use 'bel étage' (in italics). Better than 'all over' would be 'throughout' (without 'on').

* 'gold leaf on the elaborate stucco, doors of Cuban mahogany and so on.'

'And so on' sounds casual. It's often a good idea to avoid lists that end in 'etc.' or 'and so on' (which should ideally not be used in texts except in direct speech) by saying something like: 'Materials used included gold leaf on the elaborate stucco and Cuban mahogany for doors.'

* 'Evoy was renowned for his lavishness and this project only gave food to his reputation.'

Should be 'MacEvoy'. I'd also replace 'lavishness' with 'lavish expenditure' or 'expensive habits'.

* 'In1872 the palace was sold to the piano factory Hornung & Møller who completed a row of conversions to adapt the house for manufacturing. The beletage was largely left intact though to function as concert hall and Conservatory of Music.'

Space missing after 'in'; there should be a comma before 'who'; 'bel étage' as above.

I'm not sure what's meant by 'row of conversions'; do you mean 'a number of alterations'? It should be 'The bel étage was left largely intact, however, as it was intended for use as a concert hall and a/the Conservatory of Music.' Obviously, I don't know quite what kind of use was intended for the Conservatory, so this may need further clarification.

* 'By 1976 Dehn’s Palace was badly worn down through use and neglect of maintenance so the State was forced to take responsibility for the building as it had meanwhile been listed.'

There should be a comma after 'maintenance' and I'd also put the last clause in a relative clause: '... for the building, which had been listed in the meantime'. As I assume the Danish concept for protection of monuments is different from the British concept of 'listing', you might also want to use a translation of the correct phrase and give the meaning of 'the Danish equivalent of "listing"' in brackets, although this may not be necessary.

* 'In 1980 Danish Pharmacists Association bought it under the clause that a full restauration of the historical building was to be undertaken.'

Some problems here, so I'd re-phrase: 'In 1980, the Danish Pharmacists Association (could be 'Association of Danish Pharmacists' or 'Danish Association of Pharmacists' or 'Danish Pharmacists' Association') bought it under the condition that a full restoration of the historical building be undertaken.'

* 'Professor Vilhelm Wohlert (May 27 1920 – May 10 2007), known for the modernist museum of Louisiana north of Copenhagen, was the advisory architect of the State regarding the Royal Castles'

Dates again, also 'advisory architect of the State' needs a different translation. I'd say something like 'the architect advising on behalf of the Danish State' or some such phrase. As the original Danish concept probably can't be translated, it's best to use a descriptive phrase like that to avoid creating odd names like 'advisory architect of the State'.

* 'Several partitions and interposed floors from earlier conversions including those made by Hornung & Møller were removed and original colours and details were recreated based on Hetch’s drawings.'

There should be commas before 'including' and after 'Møller'. 'Hetsch's', not 'Hetch's'.

* I've corrected numerous small gremlins in the paragraph starting 'In May 2010', as follows:

'In May 2010, part of the ventilation installation in the top storey caught fire. The timber of the roof construction, 260 years old by that time, was damaged and soaked up so much of the water used by firefighters in extinguishing the fire that its weight caused the remains to collapse through several floors in the central pavilion so that only their walls remained. The interiors stood drenched in water for several days and were heavily damaged.'

I don't know what the English word would be for 'ventilation installation', but it's probably different. 'Ventilation system' might work.

* 'Both in their own right; as beautiful palaces and as parts of the entire grandiose rococo district, the twin palaces hold extremely high cultural value.'

This is somewhat abrupt and the name of Bernstorff’s Palace should be mentioned again:

'Dehn's Palace and Bernstorff’s Palace hold extremely high cultural value both separately, as beautiful palaces and as parts of the entire grandiose rococo district.'

I can't think of an idiomatic phrase in English for 'hold high cultural value'. I suspect one would say something like 'are of great cultural importance', even though that's a different idea.

* 'It is unique to find a building with such a documented history'

Do you mean 'with a history/whose history is so well-documented' or 'with such a rich history'? I assume the former.

* 'and with traces of the different times and styles visible thanks to a very well thought out strategy for the conservation and restoration works'

I'm not sure what you mean to say here--are you commenting on its state before the most recent restoration or after it? I'd separate this out into several sentences, including one that comments on the traces of different styles and one that explains the role the strategy (which strategy?) plays/played in how the times and styles were/remained/became visible. It could become three or four sentences.

* 'The two parts of Dehn’s Palace was listed in 1931 and 1951 by Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen'

See the remarks on listing above--I'd insert this there if possible.