At Berlin’s Aedes Architecture Forum, the exhibition ‘Five Working Spaces’ invites visitors to glimpse into Ai Weiwei’s studios across continents. On the occasion of the opening on May 23, 2025, designboom spoke exclusively with the artist, uncovering how each workspace embodies his political convictions, personal history, and creative vision. A central focus of the exhibition is Ai Weiwei’s most recent studio in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal, built using traditional Chinese woodworking methods. 

‘My studio is an extension of my body and mental state,’ Ai Weiwei tells designboom. ‘Of course it’s political. Anyone who sees the exhibition can understand — it’s not that I want it to be political. It just is political.’

all images courtesy of Aedes Architecture Forum and Ai Weiwei Studio, unless stated otherwise

ARTIST, ARCHITECT AND ADVOCAT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Rather than illustrating architectural typologies or design processes, ‘Five Working Spaces’ explores Ai Weiwei’s studios as existential conditions, rooted in the artist’s early experiences of political exile. Born in Beijing, Ai Weiwei spent his formative years in remote regions of China, where his father, the poet Ai Qing, had been banished during the Anti-Rightist Movement. Known for his outspoken critique of authoritarian systems and his advocacy for human rights, Ai Weiwei ranks among the most influential figures in contemporary art and activism. His wide-ranging practice — spanning art, architecture, film, and social engagement — merges traditional Chinese craftsmanship with global aesthetics and personal narrative.

Five Working Spaces on view at Aedes Architecture Forum until July 02, 2025 | image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

FIVE WORKING SPACES AT AEDES ARCHITECTURE FORUM IN BERLIN

The exhibition ‘Five Working Spaces’ at Aedes Architecture Forum traces key chapters of the artist’s life through the lens of architecture, presenting five studios located in Beijing, Shanghai, Berlin, and Montemor-o-Novo. Designed, commissioned, and inhabited by Ai Weiwei himself, each workspace mirrors shifting personal and political realities, documented through architectural models, photographs, drawings, and personal texts.

‘What’s similar is that all of them are tied to one individual – me – trying to fit myself into a working condition. But that condition is always changing. It’s more about connecting to my life, to the conditions I was given, the environments I lived in, how I grew up, how I became an architect, how I acted during moments of social and political change,’ he reflects in our conversation.

Ai Weiwei working on still life in his studio, Caochangdi, Beijing, 2000

His first studio in Longzhuashu, Beijing, redefined an austere concrete courtyard with a quiet gesture: planting Danish grass. The transformation was subtle, yet symbolically powerful — an act of reclaiming space through care. In the early 2000s, he designed his compound in the Caochangdi district, also in Beijing, which soon became a hub for artistic collaboration and large-scale installations. Both spaces would later be demolished by authorities, along with others: the Malu Studio near Shanghai in 2011, dismantled shortly after completion, and the Zuoyou Studio in 2018, destroying works still stored inside.

‘I’m used to irrational violence and no explanation. You cannot figure out the logic. You just take it and survive in it,’ the artist recounts, reflecting on these losses. ‘I grew up in that kind of environment. I was born into it. My father was exiled the year I was born. As demonstrated in the exhibition, I lived underground with my father — in a black hole.’

demolition of the Shanghai studio in Malu

In Berlin, Ai Weiwei established a studio in the cellar of a former brewery — an underground, introspective space that resonates with the years he spent in forced exile alongside his father in remote Xinjiang. Tucked away beneath the surface, for the artist, working underground is not only a physical experience, but also an emotional excavation, shaped by reflection and a return to memory.

Speaking to designboom, Ai Weiwei elaborates on this temporal shift: ‘I’m considered a contemporary artist, but my deepest emotions are connected to the past. I’m not familiar with German culture, because I don’t speak the language. I always relate my practice to the past. I appreciate human memory. Without memory, we don’t know who we are or where we come from. Then we can’t appreciate our current condition.’

inside Ai Weiwei’s studio in Berlin, 2018

The most recent of Ai Weiwei’s five working spaces lies in Montemor-o-Novo, a rural town in southern Portugal. The expansive wooden structure draws on traditional Chinese joinery, assembled without nails or screws. Designed with 100 regular columns and a rotated roof that echoes his demolished Malu Studio near Shanghai, the building stands as a monument to craftsmanship and cultural memory. This fifth studio, completed in 2023, resists categorization. Officially registered as a warehouse, it contains no defined program. 

‘Architecture is part of our body — our state of mind and physical condition,’ reviewing the decision to settle in Portugal, Ai Weiwei notes a change in pace and outlook. ‘I want a location that’s peaceful and quiet. A place where you can look at the sky and realize there are stars. In the morning, you can see the sun rays. In the evening, the moon comes up. That fits my psychological condition today.’

timberwork of the Portugal studio in Montemor-o-Novo | image © Yanan Li

Ai Weiwei’s Portugal studio in bird perspective

his fifth studio, completed in 2023

Montemor-o-Novo Studio, nine-part representation model | image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

exhibition view | image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

project info: 

name: Five Working Spaces

artist: Ai Weiwei | @aiww
location: Aedes Architecture Forum, Berlin, Germany | @aedesberlin

dates: May 24 – July 02, 2025

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In times where urban areas are overburdened and rural spaces are often overlooked, Christoph Hesse Architects is leading a ‘rural rebellion’ that reimagines the countryside. Their exhibition, Rural Rebellion, showcased at Berlin’s Aedes Architecture Forum from October 26, 2024, to January 24, 2025, provides a vivid look at how rural regions can be revitalized through community-centered architecture. Christoph Hesse, who grew up on a farm in Germany’s Hochsauerland region, brings his personal connection to agricultural life into each project, making them both catalysts for social change and interventions that honor local knowledge. By focusing on rural renewal, Hesse and his team advocate for rural areas as vital spaces for societal progress, ecological sustainability, and a new architectural ethos.

(above) Rural Rebellion is more than an exhibition – it’s an invitation to see rural areas as sources of inspiration for sustainable, collaborative, and regenerative living | image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

(banner) video © Reframe Videos

the exhibition’s five thematic pillars on rural challenges

Christoph Hesse Architects is an internationally active architecture firm with offices in Korbach and Berlin, focusing on cooperative cultural and ecological projects that promote regenerative thinking and action and strengthen the self-efficacy of participants. The firm was established in 2010 by Christoph Hesse, who was awarded his Master of Architecture at the ETH Zurich and his Master of Architecture in Urban Design, with distinction, at Harvard University. With exhibition Rural Rebellion, Hesse and his team address the challenges of rural areas by questioning and reinterpreting traditional structures of villages and landscapes in unconventional ways. Hosted in Berlin’s Aedes Architecture Forum, the exhibition presents a series of groundbreaking ideas and projects, organized around five thematic pillars, aimed at revitalizing rural areas, alongside interventions that bring rural inspiration into urban contexts.

the projects address rural challenges by enhancing quality of life | image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

At its core, Rural Rebellion is a call to action. Christoph Hesse and his internationally connected team reject conventional approaches, offering instead a fresh, collaborative vision for rural areas. Their projects address rural challenges by enhancing quality of life, bolstering sustainability, and creating innovative spaces for community and cultural activities. The exhibition’s mix of models, drawings, films, and portraits reveal the firm’s vision of a rural landscape that is as dynamic and innovative as urban areas, bridging the divide between urban and rural settings.

Chapel of Light | image © Thomas Baron

‘rural rebellion’ inspires societal awareness

The exhibition’s projects emphasize shifting perspectives, encouraging people to see rural spaces as dynamic centers for innovation and reflection. The Reflecting Points installations, for instance, invite people to experience rural landscapes in new ways. These installations were developed following Open Mind Places and were displayed around Kassel during documenta fifteen. They include the Coal Museum, which draws attention to the urgency of transitioning to renewable energy; Karl’s Eye, emphasizing wood as an essential CO2 storage; as well as Maria and Collective symbolizing biodiverse reforestation. Together, these installations inspire environmental awareness, societal engagement, and connections between urban and rural regions.

Collective (left) and Maria (right), Reflecting Points, documenta fifteen | image © Juergen Aymar

Another major theme of Rural Rebellion is ‘Visionary Seeding,’ a concept focused on reconnecting communities with nature through knowledge-sharing and regenerative agriculture. This approach is exemplified in projects like House of Knowledge in Xinyang, China, and Circle of Life in AlUla, Saudi Arabia. These projects merge agricultural, cultural, and educational activities, offering spaces for communal learning, ecological practice, and hands-on engagement with nature. By turning rural areas into hubs for environmental education and community bonding, these projects emphasize the potential of rural spaces to foster ecological and social renewal. 

House of Knowledge | image © Gabriel Dong

The theme of ‘Collaborative Growing’ reflects a rebellion against top-down, individualistic design by promoting local and international partnerships. In Ways of Life, located on Lake Edersee, and the Garden House in Bad Wildungen, the architects demonstrate how collaborative architecture can foster shared spaces that meet diverse community needs. One striking example is the Open Chapel, a sanctuary for reflection created by the residents of

Open Chapel | image © Thomas Baron

The architects’ commitment to ‘Resourceful Pioneering’ is visible in projects that reimagine sustainable living in rural settings. Villa F, located in Titmaringhausen, is part of a community-led initiative where residents—known as the ‘Rural Rebels’—have embraced a CO2-neutral lifestyle by converting organic waste into energy, significantly reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Similarly, the Wooden Wood Center at Willingen-Stryck serves as a gateway to the Diemelsee Nature Park, inviting visitors to engage with woodland ecosystems and learn about sustainable forestry practices. Both projects embody a transformative approach to rural living that respects natural resources and prioritizes environmental education.

Villa F | image © CHA

Several of Hesse’s projects further reflect a strong commitment to ecological transformation and social engagement. In Korbach, for instance, the Room of Silence, an abandoned goat stable, has been transformed into a contemplative space open to the sky and filled with plants, representing Korbach’s commitment to renewable energy. In fact, in the middle of the green house, a hammock was attached to ropes balanced by four stones, which metaphorically symbolize the green energy sources the city relies on, such as wind and solar power. This project is a powerful metaphor for both ecological and spiritual regeneration, with the transformed space serving as a gathering point for the community.

Room of Silence | image © CHA

The Open Mind Places project in Referinghausen extends this commitment to community-focused architecture. Featuring twelve installations connected by a footpath, the project invites visitors on a reflective journey through the landscape. Crafted from natural and recycled materials, each installation functions as a ‘Perspective Changer,’ encouraging visitors to consider the significance of nature and the role they can play in its preservation. This project fosters a sense of belonging and inspires visitors to contribute to ecological and social initiatives within the region.

Plow, Open Mind Places | image © CHA

The Mosque of Nature in Cairo is another ambitious project that combines religious and community functions with regenerative agriculture. Developed through a participatory design process involving local botanists, students, migrants, and residents, The Mosque includes gardens that produce food and natural building materials. The prayer hall, created with repurposed greenhouse structures, is interwoven with plants that filter sunlight, creating a peaceful, shaded atmosphere. The project is a striking blend of spiritual, agricultural, and architectural elements, reflecting the community’s connection to nature in an urban context.

The Mosque of Nature in Cairo | image © CHA

The Mosque of Nature in Cairo | image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

The Stones Water Light visitor center at Lake Edersee demonstrates how rural spaces can become cultural and educational venues. Built to resemble a ‘cut-out’ of the dam, the center’s tower structure reveals the dam’s inner workings and serves as a reminder of the local landscape’s ecological and social history. Through immersive light installations and open spaces for community learning, this project fosters regenerative thinking and celebrates the UNESCO Kellerwald-Edersee National Park’s ecological significance.

The Stones Water Light visitor center | image © Michael Meschede

The Stones Water Light visitor center | image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

Ultimately, Rural Rebellion is more than an exhibition—it’s an invitation to see rural areas as sources of inspiration for sustainable, collaborative, and regenerative living. Christoph Hesse Architects’ projects remind us that rural areas could play a key role in shaping development strategies in urban spaces, fostering an architecture that bridges the gap between urban and rural, human and nature, past and future. Through this vision, Hesse’s team seeks not only to preserve and expand knowledge but to also empower rural environments as engines for innovation and resilience in the modern world.

by focusing on rural renewal, Hesse and his team advocate for rural areas as vital spaces for societal progress, ecological sustainability, and a new architectural ethos | image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

The ‘Ways of Life’ campus under construction | image © Laurian Ghinitoiu

Straw Thermae, Open Mind Places | image © Thomas Baron

Sound of the Sun, Open Mind Places | image © Thomas Baron

Sky Drops, Open Mind Places | image © CHA

project info:

exhibition name: Rural Rebellion

organization: Christoph Hesse Architects | @christophhessearchitects
location: Aedes Architecture Forum, Berlin
dates: October 26, 2024 – January 24, 2025

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Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin presents ‘Poetic Imaginations,’ a solo exhibition by the Beijing-based Studio Zhu Pei. The exhibition presents six architectural projects, each with distinct functions and surroundings, yet connected by common architectural elements such as structures, materials, and forms. Through architectural models, sketches, films, and publications, visitors are invited to delve into the creative process behind these structures. Zhu Pei’s work is deeply rooted in traditional Chinese philosophy, particularly the idea of harmony between humans and nature. In an interview with designboom, Pei discusses his design principles, including the importance of creating spaces that work in connection with their environment. He hopes that visitors will leave the exhibition with a deeper understanding of architecture’s role in connecting people, culture, and nature. Pei also highlights the concept of ‘incomplete integrity,’ advocating for architecture that evolves over time and leaves room for interpretation and adaptation. The exhibition presents Zhu Pei’s concept of an ‘Architecture of Nature’, which not only prioritizes aesthetics but also addresses contemporary challenges such as climate change and cultural preservation. By exploring these projects, visitors gain insight into how architectural theory can be translated into tangible, meaningful spaces that resonate with both history and modernity.

image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

header video © designboom

interview with Zhu Pe

designboom (DB): what’s the concept behind the exhibition ‘poetic imaginations’, and how does it intertwine architecture with traditional values?

Zhu Pei (ZP): The concept of this exhibition is the continuation of my previous exhibition in 2017 at Aedes. It is somehow to reflect my earlier thoughts on architecture’s role amidst challenges like climate change and cultural shifts. So, for the 2017 Aedes exhibition, I showcased projects selected to highlight my design process. This time, many of the selections are based on that 2017 exhibition, with a focus on contemporary Chinese architecture. I’ve also incorporated my design philosophy into this show. My design philosophy, which I call ‘architecture of nature,’ emphasizes the relationship between innovation and tradition. Today, when we consider tradition, it’s not just about understanding the past but about finding inspiration within it. This idea of blending tradition with innovation is key to my approach. Modern architecture needs to find a balance between these elements. This is maybe what I want to show people: to think about how tradition can give us some power and inspiration to respond to climate change and the cultural ruptures of this moment.

image © designboom

DB: how do you tackle the task of preserving cultural heritage while meeting modern demands in your projects?

ZP: For me, the project’s location isn’t the primary concern. I’m more interested in delving deep to uncover the intelligence within visitors or the ecosystem. Tradition and heritage offer valuable insights. Take, for instance, the Imperial Kiln Museum project. It’s about fostering dialogue rooted in tradition. First, it’s about respecting cultural norms. Secondly, it’s about considering climate factors. This building draws deep inspiration from local tradition. The city’s history of industrial pottery production influenced the design, turning what was once solely an industrial space into a social hub. Public spaces, schools, and communities formed around these kilns. I aimed to transform the kiln prototype into an architectural structure, considering materials and sustainability.

He continues: The Imperial Kiln Museum features over six brick vaults modeled after traditional kiln forms, each varying in size, curvature, and length. These vaults were positioned on the site, blending with numerous existing ruins, including some discovered during the construction process. The museum reflects the blend of past heritage with contemporary, using reused and recycled bricks and staying true to tradition while adapting to modern needs. The museum spans over 10,000 square meters and relies on natural ventilation, avoiding air conditioning despite the region’s heat and humidity. Learning from the past, we can create sustainable architecture rooted in cultural perspectives rather than relying solely on technological advancements.

image © designboom

DB: What is the underlying principle that unifies the designs of the six projects displayed in the exhibition, despite their diverse natural landscapes and cultural narratives?

ZP: The six projects are located in different parts of the world, each associated with different cultures, traditions, and climates. But they all strongly share a common thing, which is my design philosophy. I aim to create a connection to local culture, construction conditions, and climate in each project. I would like to give you a little bit of detail about my design philosophy. Firstly, ‘seating posture’ is essential. It’s not just about orientation; it’s about understanding the relationship between humans, nature, and architecture. We aim to work harmoniously with nature, utilizing sunlight, wind, and natural views to create sustainable spaces that don’t rely solely on technology. Then, I emphasize the importance of structure and form. Throughout architectural history, great designs have always integrated structure and form seamlessly, ensuring they work together efficiently.

image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

He continues: Next is the concept of ‘the cave and the nest.’ This idea draws from the notion of creating spaces akin to nests, not only offering shelter but also promoting sustainability. Projects like the Majiayao Ruins Museum and the Yangliping Performing Arts Centre present this approach, where two prototypes collaborate to enhance energy efficiency. Additionally, I support the ‘sponge architecture,’ where buildings aren’t mere structures but dynamic spaces that accommodate various programs and activities. This porous nature allows for deeper engagement and flexibility in use. Lastly, I highlight the concept of ‘incomplete integrity.’ Architecture has to be incomplete; it can evolve over time. Just like Chinese landscape paintings invite viewers to participate and imagine, architecture should leave room for interpretation and adaptation by future generations. Architecture should not only integrate with its surroundings physically but also allow for diverse interactions and interpretations, ensuring its relevance and sustainability over time.

image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

DB: what do you hope visitors will take away from your exhibition at the Aedes architecture forum?

ZP: Visitors may walk into this exhibition wondering why this show does not include specific plans. I only use models, sketches, and a few words to convey that this show strongly captures the essence of architecture as a special art, not just sculpture or visual art, but also about the experience. I think this show also relates to the concept of incomplete integrity. When you enter the space, you may be curious and imaginative, not focused on details. But as you explore, you’ll understand the architecture, see models and sketches, and not only experience complete architectural situations but also feel the architectural ideas behind them.

image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

He continues: The show aims to encourage people to reconsider what architecture is supposed to be, not just about creating buildings but understanding the ideas behind them. For example, my philosophy aims to respond to climate change and make architecture more intelligent and sustainable. We can learn from tradition and cultural perspectives, not just depending on technology or capitalism. Let’s consider how people and culture engage in the design process, encouraging visitors to rethink how nature and human beings can coexist and extend life together rather than just seeing buildings as separate entities. 

image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

image © designboom

image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

image © designboom

project info:

name: Poetic Imaginations: Interweaving Architecture with Traditional Values
architects: Studio Zhu Pei, Beijing | @studiozhupei

dates: 17. February – 27. March 2024

location: Aedes Architecture Forum, Christinenstr. 18-19, 10119 Berlin | @aedesberlin

photography: © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk, © designboom

videography: © designboom

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The Aedes exhibition Taste Is the Lack of Appetite marks the 25th anniversary of GRAFT, an internationally active architecture firm known for its distinctive approach to design and social engagement. designboom attended the exhibition’s opening, during which GRAFT partners guided us through the two-space display and they generously shared insights into their unwavering curiosity for the unexpected, reflecting a design practice characterized by optimism and a passion for experimentation. A group of five individuals, each hailing from different backgrounds, complement one another, and together, they push the boundaries of traditional architecture and achieve intricate design solutions. The statement by the American art critic Dave Hickey that ‘Taste is the lack of appetite’ serves as a guiding principle for GRAFT’s work, hence the title. The firm embraces curiosity and passion when confronting challenges, fostering an open and innovative spirit rather than adhering to predefined architectural conventions.‘The importance of curiosity is maintaining a state of mind that allows you to discover something you weren’t actively looking for – that’s serendipity, and that’s what we live for,’ GRAFT shared with designboom.

The showcased projects encompass a diverse range of residential, mixed-use, and cultural buildings, each exemplifying the firm’s innovative design strategies. Additionally, the exhibition talks about ‘Architecture Activism’ and features the original prototype of their community-building project known as Solarkiosk. The Solarkiosk is an innovative intervention in remote African regions that provides clean solar energy, connectivity, and communication, all while promoting a sustainable, post-colonial social model. ‘All these kiosks add small dots of light and give people more time to communicate because this light in the night is extending the time,’ GRAFT partners explained. ‘We see communities using the energy to establish businesses like hair salons, creating job opportunities, and people becoming inventive, even opening small cinemas that broadcast news and sports events.’ They added, ‘It’s about recognizing a specific need, feeling the urge to intervene without having a client assign a task, and creating a solution from your own intrinsic motivation.’ Read the interview in full below!

video ©designboom

image ©Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

interview with GRAFT partners AT AEDES ARCHITEKTURFORUM

designboom (DB): Can you tell us more about the exhibition title and how it reflects GRAFT’s design philosophy and approach? Is there a specific message you want to convey to the audience?

Wolfram Putz: The title of the exhibition is Taste is the Lack of Appetite, and it portrays our philosophy about looking at the world. You can have a feeling of certainty, a longing for what’s right and wrong, whatever you want to put a stable image for yourself or your architecture firm on. However, we think the opposite. We believe hunger for curiosity and reaching out for the unknown should be the perpetual philosophy and attitude towards architecture that we want to provide.

Lars Krückeberg: Conveying a single message through the title may be ambiguous. And that’s what we like. We like ambivalent things. It’s also in the name of our firm, graft. One message is that we live in times of real dynamics of cultural and global changes. And it’s not the time to have a good taste. It’s time to find real solutions. You have to be hungry to find them. And especially in architecture, because it combines so many aspects at the same time, it’s at the heart of our societies. We don’t have the luxury of having good taste; we need to find great solutions that hunger for looking for a wonderful solution that brings beauty and identity to our firm environments. That’s what interests us. And that’s what we think is needed these days.

Wolfram Putz: This is an exclusive concept, and we look at the world as an inclusive necessity, broadening to every person to all people to all cultures. And the taste is a training programme of saying, ‘this is good, this is bad, this is right, this is wrong; this should be done, or this should not be done.’ And this can be extremely limiting, and we don’t believe in that.

image ©Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

DB: Could you explain what is the Solarkiosk project and its significance?

Thomas Willemeit: A good friend of ours had been trying to promote solar products in Africa, and together, we came up with the idea of advancing solar technology and energy in the region. We immediately understood that developing an extensive design strategy and master plan wasn’t feasible. Instead, we needed a small, controllable solution as a local intervention to bring a big change to rural areas. Our idea was to create an independent, little power station for rural communities that lacked access to electrical grids. The kiosk combines solar panels on the roof with local batteries and charging infrastructure. That way, we make sure that we harvest the sun to generate energy while providing locals with access to power. That means improving their lives by charging their cell phones, using solar lamps, and even running a local fridge, that every kiosk contains. It may also revolutionize our thinking so that we don’t believe so much in general master planning for a very long time top-down anymore. However, we have learned that some very small local interventions can create development from the bottom up. And this is something we need, especially in such local areas in Africa.

Sven Fuchs: Light was literally brought to darkness. When you look at this, for me, it is the most eye-catching picture of Africa and the world. When you view these night vision images, you can see that Europe and the US are shining bright, and you can see this road from Moscow to Sibiria. But when you look at Africa, apart from South Africa, it’s pretty dark, and all these kiosks add small dots of light and give people more time to communicate, not only electricity but time because this light in the night is extending the time. Looking back at European history, the presence of human-generated light during the night has been a driver for innovation. It has been a driving force for innovation in Europe and can similarly drive innovation in Africa.

©designboom

DB: What is the design process until its completion, and what services does it offer the communities? How do people embrace the structure?

Thomas Willemeit: We had the idea for the kiosk and made a little sketch, but we quickly understood that it required much more. So, we needed to find the right partners, develop precise technology plans for the kiosk, and, of course, secure financing. Therefore, if we truly wanted to bring this idea to life, it was evident that we had to establish a new company to build, implement, and run the kiosks. We started with our local company in Berlin and then gradually expanded into partner countries in Africa, beginning with Ethiopia and then Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ghana. We were able to raise funds from foundations and donors from all over the world to finance over 200 kiosks that you can now find operating in local communities across Africa. What’s especially interesting for us is observing the next step happening locally. We see communities using the energy to establish businesses like hair salons, creating job opportunities, and people becoming inventive, even opening small cinemas that broadcast news and sports events. As a result, various pubs and small businesses have been created all around the Solarkiosks. So, at the end of the day, a completely different approach, starting with these small interventions, proved to be more successful than developing an overarching concept for an entire country. But to try out pilot projects and learning how these kiosks would work helped us to accelerate the rollout and the success of the Solarkiosks.

Thomas Willemeit: Working on these projects, you learn a lot about people, and, of course, there were some very interesting learnings. For example, in many cases, when we tried to find the right individuals to operate the kiosks, primarily women, the local women brought across both the responsibility and the capability to organize. We always ask our local partners to identify and propose five to ten people to run each kiosk. We would then conduct interviews, provide training, and, after a trial phase, allow them to run the kiosk completely responsibly on their own.

©designboom

DB: What is your vision for the future of the Solarkiosk?

Thomas Willemeit: There are many ideas, some of which have already been tried. I could name a few. There’s the possibility of the Solarkiosk, which allows people to implement and build local clinics at a very fast pace. Together with the Siemens Foundation, we were able to finance a larger solar clinic in one of the world’s largest refugee camps in Jordan at that time. Additionally, with the help of the Hope Foundation from the United States, we financed smaller solar clinics, which were built like larger entities. These four clinics were implemented in Bangladesh after we had an influx of refugees from Myanmar crossing the border into Bangladesh. There are numerous possibilities and endless opportunities to take the next steps. The intention was to allow all these creative solutions to be generated locally. This is maybe the most exciting aspect for us. As Europeans, we don’t have to implement everything and think it through from the beginning to the end. Instead, we can provide our knowledge and a deep understanding of local challenges to help with smaller interventions that enable local initiatives to grow on their own.

Sven Fuchs: We participate and enjoy seeing how it’s being built up, further developed, taken in new directions, adapted, and used in different ways, bringing new inspiration back to us. But the main idea is that with these 200 kiosks already out there, other people can take them, make changes, and adapt them for different purposes. And it brings joy to see that.

©designboom

DB: in the exhibition, you mention six different buildings presented as concrete results of abstract design strategies, such as lofting, tracing, sectioning, weaving, etc. Can you describe how these design strategies have been applied in your projects and how they contribute to unique designs?

Lars Krückeberg: Each project asks different questions; if you ask back, you will have different answers. This means that each project should and will look different. Sometimes, you can apply a method as a tool to portray the essence of the project better. For instance, in the case of Charlie Living, a residential project where we tried to implement light and air into a densely designed space while also prioritizing green elements, we didn’t just aim to create an oasis on the ground but also wanted greenery to be integrated into the building’s facades. To achieve this, we employed the weaving method, as it best suited our goals. This method allowed us to design balconies that overlapped, providing enough space for trees to grow and receive ample light. Weaving was the best method to answer the specific requirements of this project. Similarly, other projects require different methods aligning with the desired narrative or essence in that area.

Sven Fuchs: Absolutely, it’s important to find out that there is not design strategy at the beginning, followed by the project or its outcome. Instead, the design process starts with the task at hand, inspired by different conditions on site, and we try different strategies. Among these six projects, each one can represent a particular strategy. It’s not always the initial strategy we started with. In many cases, these strategies transform during the process, like in the case of the Jewish Museum, where we are showcasing the tracing. The epigenetic landscape was not initially designed the way it appears now. When we first entered the competition, we needed a complete understanding of the entire program. As the program and the different exhibition components desired for the site became clearer in the later design stages, they significantly influenced and shaped this epigenetic landscape. So, in this context, tracing became the right solution after thorough analysis and consideration of all site conditions. This is why these few projects can each represent a strategy, and it’s not always the strategy we started with; it might change or has changed.

©designboom

Lars Krückeberg continues: We never start with a preconceived form in mind. We genuinely question its necessity. The notion of signature architecture, we believe, can be very limiting. While it can be a useful tool, sometimes having a fixed idea about a particular form for one project may not be suitable for others. A self-referential and highly formal approach may work well for a museum that stands on its own in a unique context, such as in new cities in the Middle East or China. However, in the context of a European city, especially for a residential building, the surrounding context plays a significant role. We question the idea of already having a preconceived form that primarily talks about the architect and their firm rather than addressing the actual problem at hand. We want to talk about problems and find the right methods to find the right answer. By doing this, we aim to create something unique that provides a specific response to the site. This is our thesis: if you do it right, you create something unique that has the chance to have an identity, to bring something to the urban environment, maybe to be loved and hence survive.

©designboom

DB: Could you describe a project where GRAFT’s curiosity and appetite for innovation pushed the boundaries of traditional architecture and resulted in a truly unexpected outcome?

Sven Fuchs: We could talk again about the Solarkiosk. What’s interesting about this project is the concept behind it. When we say we don’t aim to be recognized as signature architects, we are dealing and identifying ourselves with the concept. The concept behind the Solarkiosk is architectural activism, and I’d like to explain this further. It’s about recognizing a specific need, feeling the urge to intervene without having a client assign a task, and creating a solution from your own intrinsic motivation. It’s an inner drive that leads you to develop an approach, and this is what the Solarkiosk represents. So, behind the Solarkiosk, there’s a manifestation of a concept and strategy. It’s not a strategy geared towards a predetermined formal solution but rather a strategy as a concept for taking action.

Lars Krückeberg: Maybe even go one step back; in the end, curiosity at its best is love. Casanova once said that curiosity is three-quarters love because, in curiosity, you don’t know what you will find. You have to be prepared and have a mindset to love the unknown, the things you don’t know. Only then will you discover new things. The Solarkiosk is a good example of this. We were building in Africa, specifically a Children’s Clinic outside of Addis Ababa. This was our first big project in Sub-Saharan Africa. While in a bar, Wolfram met a person named Recep, who later became our friend and partner. We had a rough concept of the Solarkiosk and were curious. So, we spent two months designing it and then presented the results to him. He was incredibly impressed, and we realized we had stumbled upon something significant. It’s about curiosity, not necessarily limited to sitting in a bar but sometimes finding opportunities and innovation in unexpected places, like a hotel bar in Addis Ababa.

Sven Fuchs: The importance about curiosity is maintaining a state of mind that allows you to discover something you weren’t actively looking for – that’s serendipity, and that’s kind of what we live for.

Starting in the past, often without knowing it, you begin to take steps to create something, perhaps having an idea of your potential goal but not knowing the exact path and being open to finding it. This is driven by curiosity.

image ©Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

DB: You have been successfully producing architectural solutions for over twenty years. How has the studio evolved through this course? Is there a specific motto you are faithfully stuck to and have not changed since the studio’s foundation?

Wolfram Putz: It has always been challenging for us to answer because we’ve been told to find our way, find a signature, develop a methodology, and stick to it to become a brand. We’ve been advised to repeat ourselves and make ourselves known for something. However, as a group of individuals from diverse backgrounds with offices in various cultures and contexts, our curiosity has often led us to the point of repetition, which bored us. We constantly reinvented ourselves; sometimes it’s Genius Loci because the project asked for reinventions, and other times it’s just in ourselves, not to stand still, not to become a brand, not to do, again, what you’re good at, but go intentionally, of course, to find a new problem and a new challenge. But if you would ask us five partners, you would get five different answers, and we love it that way.

Sven Fuchs: Maybe there is one thing uniting us. And it’s not even created by us but written down by brave people ages ago. And this is the pursuit of happiness, which we are all after. And this is not describing a certain way, but best describes what drives all of us.

©designboom

DB: What advice would you give to younger architects?

Wolfram Putz: We were lucky to meet Oscar Niemeyer shortly before he died. And we asked this great old architect what was driving him. He emphasized the importance of what truly matters in life and our profession is friends, family, the people we encounter, and the unfair world we live in. And his goal was to make that world a little better. Had we lived in the Baroque era, we might have been passionate Baroque architects, but we would likely have continued to seek unconventional solutions and push boundaries. The key, as Niemeyer taught us, is to live in our time, stand on the shoulders of giants, and remain driven to contribute to positive change, whether in terms of beauty, fairness, or other things.

Sven Fuchs: Kill your idols, go on your own. Do not walk down roads where others have walked before; try to find a new way. Risk the pain, enjoy it, be curious, and find something that interests you and touches your heart and tries to grab it. 

Wolfram Putz: Don’t wait too long! We sometimes think, ‘I still need to do this project in an office, and then I want to work for this famous firm for my portfolio.’ Start early; you will learn along the way and make mistakes anyway. So, start making mistakes quickly.

©designboom

©Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

©Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

project info:

name: Taste is the lack of appetite

architects: GRAFT | @graft.official

GRAFT curators: Sven Fuchs, Lars Krückeberg, Wolfram Putz, Georg Schmidthals, Thomas Willemeit

modelmaker: ©Makujaku Studio

venue: Aedes | @aedesberlin, Christinenstraße 18-19, 10119 Berlin

dates: 28 October – 5 December 2023

The post taste is the lack of appetite: interview with GRAFT at berlin’s aedes architekturforum appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Sou Fujimoto recently celebrated the opening of Primitive Future, a solo exhibition at Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin. Titled Primitive Future—Everything Is Circulating, the exhibition focuses on twelve projects by the studio, some already realized and others in the planning stages. As visitors step into the first room of the venue, they are greeted by twelve screens offering glimpses into the design process of the projects. The essence of Fujimoto’s architectural philosophy is embodied in the second room, with a floating installation made of a single wire, symbolizing a connected world. These wire objects form a continuous line illustrating people, nature, geography, and architecture, transforming and circulating in a metamorphosis. The installation embraces a variety of sizes and scenes, making visitors lose the sense of depth in the space. It’s like a 3D drawing seamlessly blending with its surroundings.

designboom attended the opening, where Fujimoto walked us around the exhibition, offering commentary on the studio’s philosophy, various projects, and the profound concept behind the installation. Later, we sat down with the architect, delving more deeply into his creative process, influences, and vision for the future of architecture. ‘My architectural philosophy is linking nature and architecture, making bridges between simplicity and complexity, inside and outside, public and private. I believe that the entire world holds complexity, shaped by diverse perspectives and thoughts. Rather than viewing these elements as a contradiction, I appreciate and seek to find a way of beautiful integrations,’ he tells designboom — Read the interview in full below.

image © designboom

A Glimpse into Fujimoto’s Primitive Future

The installation at Berlin’s exhibition space depicts a selection of the studio’s projects, featuring ‘stacked’ houses inspired by mountains, structures mirroring the forms of trees, and roofs adorned with mini-forests. This collection epitomizes Fujimoto’s vision of a Primitive Future, a philosophy rooted in his personal experiences growing up on Japan’s Hokkaido island, where his profound connection with nature began. Fujimoto’s fascinating journey in architecture took him to Tokyo, a vibrant urban hub, where he explored the striking contrast between the artificial and the natural.

Despite this dichotomy, the Japanese architect never compromised on his dedication to incorporating the relationship between architecture and nature as a fundamental aspect of his work. Balancing these seemingly opposing elements, he skillfully interweaves them into his projects, allowing their differences to resonate harmoniously. In this harmony, new and transformative places are born, presenting innovative and sustainable architectural expressions. ‘It is an exploration that blurs the boundaries between two dimensions and three dimensions, and perhaps even the fourth dimension. I hope people will enjoy these spatial experiences,’ describes the architect.

image © designboom

designboom interviews SOU FUJIMOTO

designboom (DB): the exhibition at Aedes is titled Primitive Future: Everything is Circulating. Can you elaborate on the concept of primitive future and how it relates to your vision of architecture in harmony with people and nature?

Sou Fujimoto (SF): The title of the exhibition is Primitive Future, which is a concept that holds great importance for me. When designing the future, we should always delve into the fundamental aspects of our minds in society. It represents the basics. Moreover, it’s not solely about the past or a timeline. It’s about finding something important, anchoring it, and then reflecting on the future. Thus, the interplay between the primitive and the future timeline inspires me.

Recently, everything is more and more related to each other. And I feel that it is not only about designing things but also about how these things relate to one another. And finally, it is a network of interconnections throughout the whole world. And that is why the subtitle of the exhibition is Everything is Circulating, not only connected, but also circulating in the flow of the sense. This exhibition aims to represent these philosophical concepts in a simple yet innovative way.

a connected world through floating wire installation | image © designboom

he continues: As you can see in this exhibition, we found out the idea is to use those wires flowing into the space to create. Sometimes people change, sometimes grow into architecture and then transform into nature so that we feel everything is connected, and it continues. And as a result, the whole entire thing is one cycle. The wires transform into nature or become part of people’s lives, surrounding skies, and neighbors. This flow and transformation are expressed through spatial drawings, which are simple, obvious, and clear. But at the same time, the meanings behind it are very deep and fundamental.

DB: Your architectural philosophy emphasizes a balance between simplicity and complexity, order and disorder. How do you achieve this delicate equilibrium in your designs? And why is it so important to you?

SF: My architectural philosophy is linking nature and architecture, making bridges between simplicity and complexity, inside and outside, public and private. I believe that the entire world holds complexity, shaped by diverse perspectives and thoughts. For me, it’s not about contradictions but rather appreciating and integrating both simplicity and complexity, nature and architecture. 

Creating architecture is a constant and iterative process. My approach to making architecture involves an iterative and continuous process of finding beautiful integrations. I believe in infusing nature into the design and exploring new ways to connect with the architecture. Each project presents a challenge and an opportunity to discover innovative and wonderful integrations in architecture.

the wire objects form a continuous line illustrating people, nature, and architecture

DB: the exhibition hosts a selection of the studio’s projects, ranging from stacked houses to structures inspired by trees and rooftops adorned with forests. What is the inspiration behind these projects?

SF: We have 12 projects here, and I specifically selected those projects that clearly show unity or integration of different things, including nature, architecture, city buildings, landscaping, and people’s lives. These projects display how different aspects can be effectively integrated. Similarly, the university building serves as an experimental translation of a forest, where one branch jumps to another while translated into architecture so that everything is drawn in a line. The spatial drawings associated with these projects go beyond precise outlines or architectural shapes. They aim to convey the concept and essence of each project, highlighting the importance and value behind the physical manifestations. These drawings address spatial problems and encourage people to think about the design concepts presented.

DB: Your portfolio includes projects in Japan, China, and some in Europe. What challenges or opportunities do you encounter to adapt the projects in different geographical and cultural contexts?

SF: This is not about bringing my style to different places; instead, it’s always about individual collaboration in projects that have independent and diverse backgrounds. That’s why it is quite diverse in nature. It truly is a wonderful encounter, rather than a mere discovery, for each other. I really enjoy working on projects in different regions across the globe. It allows me to appreciate and draw inspiration from the wonderful diversity found in different backgrounds, including cultural heritage, climate conditions, histories, and lifestyles.

I’m really impressed by how the whole world is full of such different but amazing cultures. For every project, I make it a point to respect the starting point and existing conditions, as well as the multiple layers of background that shape the context. Simultaneously, I seek ways to bring all these things and connect them to the future. This process of integration and connection is what excites me creatively. It involves engaging in discussions with local people and collaborating with our team.

depending on the viewpoint, various scales and scenes can appear as a three-dimensional drawing in a space | image © designboom

DB: L’Arbre Blanc in Montpellier and the house music in Budapest are two notable projects that demonstrate your ability to combine functionality with poetic design. Can you describe the thought process behind these projects and how you achieve this balance between practicality and playfulness?

SF: The L’Arbre Blanc in Montpellier and the house music in Budapest are two highly symbolic projects that drew inspiration from the local environment and sought to translate it into their designs. That is why both projects do not look the same and instead adapt to their respective situations. Regarding the L’Arbre Blanc project, we started with the idea of incorporating the wonderful weather and Mediterranean climate conditions of the region, as well as the centuries-old lifestyle that has prospered in such favorable climates. The concept was simple: to create large balconies and terraces that would facilitate a traditional outdoor life, but in a new vertical and expressive way. This approach allowed us to maintain the building’s simplicity, strike a good balance between economy and functionality, and eliminate unnecessary processes.

However, as we delved into the design of the balconies, they naturally transformed into something remarkable. It was important for us to capture a special moment, not just through the architectural shaping but also by considering the residents’ experience of living in the air, connecting with the city, and embracing the climatic conditions. The facade of the building surprisingly captures the beauty of the sun, further emphasizing the building’s existence.

image © designboom

he continues: In the case of the Budapest project, it is situated in the middle of a beautiful green park adorned with numerous wonderful trees. Music is very important for the Hungarian people, and thus, this location is the magic of beautiful nature and the cultural heart of passionate people. I aimed to respect those wonderful forests and create a poetic and enjoyable space where music could be played and listened to. The idea was to create a transparent musical venue harmonizing with the surrounding forest. It was essential for not just the auditorium itself, but the entire area to possess a semi-interior, semi-exterior ambiance, allowing visitors to perceive the building as an extension of the park, with the roof providing shade while still remaining open to the trees.

We designed many canopy areas so people can pass through the park and feel immersed in the environment. Then, of course, the details and the construction should be well considered. And especially the seating design was very key for that project. Finally, we chose a light, delicate golden color scheme and combined different shades of gold to create a sense of continuity with the music. This design choice aimed to reflect the changing seasons, from spring to autumn. Even during wintertime, the musical venue retains its allure, and house music itself possesses the power to attract people, even in the middle of the snow. So, conceptualizing the fusion of forest and architecture is a very big challenge, both intellectually and emotionally.

in his poetic projects, the Japanese architect aims for a balance between simplicity and complexity | image © designboom

DB: What is the message you want to convey with this installation?

SF: I feel that everything is linked and related to each other. Considering this architecture, it could be seen as a part of nature, where meanings constantly change and become more like a landscape. Therefore, the superficial definition is not very important. We need to explore the reality and understand what it truly is. These transformations and metamorphoses conceptualize the idea of treating nature, architecture, and other aspects of people’s lives as equal, interconnected, and integrated. This message is incredibly important.

It is essential to always consider both diversity and simplicity together, as they constantly influence and impact each other. I want people to walk around. It is a truly unique and intentional experience, similar to encountering an art installation. I hope people will walk around and find out unexpected encounters of layering that define the projects. Sometimes, they may lose the depth of the spatial drawings or be surprised by the transition from a two-dimensional to a three-dimensional space, revealing hidden depths. It is an exploration that blurs the boundaries between two dimensions and three dimensions, and perhaps even the fourth dimension. Ultimately, I hope people to enjoy these spatial experiences.

Tokyo Apartment, Komone, Itabashiku, Tokyo, JP, 2010. © Daici Ano

DB: what are you working on at the moment?

SF: Luckily, we undertake a diverse range of projects, both larger and smaller scale. The biggest project I am working on is the master design of the Expo Osaka 2025. For this, I proposed a huge ring-shaped roof that serves as a circulation map. The roof not only protects people from sunlight and rain but is also enormous, with a diameter of almost 700 meters. We are designing it using a wooden structure, which presents unique challenges due to the scale and materials involved. However, Japan has a wonderful tradition of historical wood construction, and I aim to draw inspiration from it and blend it with new technology in the construction process.

This work is not only a wonderful trial for working on such a large scale but also an exciting challenge in terms of innovative construction techniques. On the rooftop, visitors can go up and experience a lifted surface that resembles a bank, allowing them to appreciate the sky above and feel completely immersed in the environment. As the location is in the middle of Osaka Bay, no tall structures are around, offering a clear view of the sky in a pure circle. And that must be a very impressive experience that people will look up at the same circle in the sky. And you can imagine we are really sharing this precious nature, and everybody is under it. It’s not just about technical construction but also about creating unforgettable experiences for everyone to cherish.

House of Music, Budapest, HU, 2022. © Iwan Baan

L’Arbre Blanc, Montpellier, FR © Iwan Baan

project info:

name of the exhibition: Primitive Future – Everything Is Circulating

architects: Sou Fujimoto Architects | @sou_fujimoto

venue: Aedes Architecture Forum | @aedesberlin

location: Christinenstr. 18-19 10119 Berlin

dates: 15 July – 30 August 2023

The post interview: sou fujimoto weaves primitive future with wire installation at berlin’s aedes appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

After seven years, Atelier Deshaus returns to Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin with the comprehensive exhibition ‘Common Landscape, Re-Cultivating Industrial Sites’. On view until 17 May 2023, the show spotlights the Shanghai-based studio’s exemplary projects, highlighting its sensitive design approach, which responds to the rapid urban development in China.

The theme of the exhibition revolves around the simple question of how to breathe new life into abandoned buildings and relics from the industrial past, turning them into inviting places open to the community. designboom didn’t miss the chance to take a closer look at the large-scale models designed with great attention to detail, and spoke with Liu Yichun, architect and co-founder of the practice, about the importance and challenges of preserving the existing and the effects on a place. (read the interview in full below)

image and full header video © designboom

abandoned buildings turn into new cultural landmarks

For the architect, each project becomes a carrier of memory and reflects the local identity, introducing new uses to society. ‘Combining an existing industrial site with a new architecture can contribute to the history, the landscape, and the public space of a city, and bring in new energy,’  as Yichun puts it. Instead of demolition, preservation, and reconstruction of the existing with minimal intervention is what Atelier Deshaus (see more here) opts for its architectural projects. This can save natural resources and welcome a more sustainable development, while at the same time bearing the city’s historical culture. 

The Aedes exhibition presents seven outstanding projects that see the transformation of former urban complexes into new vivid places for the public. Most of them are located along the Huangpu River in Shanghai, whose accessibility as a public space was celebrated by Expo 2010 ‘Better City – Better Life’. The presentation is complemented by two additional construction projects in other parts of the country, also informed by their historical background. 

new cultural landmarks emerge from the formerly derelict buildings

interviewing Liu Yichun from Atelier Deshaus

designboom (DB): The exhibition at Aedes, ‘Common Landscape’, focuses on the transformation of former industrial complexes into new attractive spaces open to the community. Can you elaborate on this a bit more?

Atelier Deshaus (AD): After 2010, with the development strategies of planning and renewing the central city area for the Expo, Shanghai began to move out and transform industrial wharves, warehouses, and factories along the Huangpu River and opened up the once-closed riverfront to the citizens as open urban space. Long Museum West Bund was almost the first in this series of projects or the most powerful one in the early riverfront transformation. It shows that combining an existing industrial site with a new architecture can contribute to the history, the landscape, and the public space of a city, and bring in new energy. It has created a brand new urban public space. Deshaus took part in several industrial transformation projects like this and began to form a common landscape.

DB: What are the main sources of inspiration that influence the design of the projects? How important are historical references?

AD: The main inspiration is informed by observing and assessing the site. How to make an existing thing part of something new, however, it might be special or normal. We might have to look for a coincidence. Historical references shall be used in a proper place. It might bring us a certain starting point, but where it leads is what truly matters.

the projects are presented in the exhibition with models, plans, photos, and videos

DB: What are the biggest challenges you face with industrial renovation projects?

AD: The biggest ones are the uncertainty of the current conditions of the industrial sites. Some sites are maintained in good condition, but some are not. We might also have different views and judgments about their values. We keep the old, but how do we actually keep them? Do we keep the object itself, the space, or even the atmosphere? This also depends on how we finally use the space. Finding a function that can fit the existing space is often difficult.

DB: what are the difficulties in preserving existing structures, and maintain the historic character of the site, all the while seeking to bring the project to today’s expectations?

AD: First of all, it is not to preserve the site itself. It needs to be preserved within a new entity. But before a new entity exists, many of our decisions can still be temporary. This also includes how we imagine it to be used. It is also difficult for the design to meet the requirements of new design regulations, earthquake-proofing, energy-saving, fire-proofing, and so on. These regulations often make it worse for the existing structures or the quality of space. This truly needs more innovative thinking to improve the situation.

each project is perfectly integrated into its setting

DB: You have been offering architectural solutions for over 20 years – since the studio’s foundation. How has your practice changed over these two decades?

AD: The twenty years since we founded Deshaus, is also the twenty years that Shanghai developed so rapidly. The two decades can be divided into exactly two stages. From 2001 to 2010, was the New Town period for Shanghai’s urban development. From 2010 till now, it has been the urban transformation period. The types of Deshaus projects are also following the city development of Shanghai. In the first ten years, we mainly designed kindergartens and schools in the suburban new towns. In the second ten years, we undertook more urban regeneration projects, such as the industrial transformation projects along Huangpu River.

They are mainly public and cultural projects. So we also did a lot of art museums later on, that were not limited only to Shanghai anymore. Speaking of design, we also turned from caring about the exterior space and its form, to caring about the interior atmosphere, and how the structure might act in the space of the architecture. This is clearly also influenced by industrial buildings. An industrial sense is coming into our new architecture. I think this is also a contemporariness of architecture.

DB: Among the projects we will have the joy to view later, could you pick one that stands out for you, that makes you really proud? If so, which one and why?

AD: Only one can be quite difficult, but I might choose three. These are the Long Museum, the Riverside Passage, and the Upper-Cloister. They are all very important to me. Putting them together might be more interesting. Three almost completely different projects, actually share quite much commonness at the core, such as the understanding of the site, and the reference to historical prototypes such as the traditional Chinese gardens.

If I must choose one, I might still choose the Long Museum. The site, the structure and the space are integrated to the fullest, and the space is the most primitive. Different cultures can be seen in there, and so there is a special sense of tolerance. Its completion has played an active role in the urban development of the West Bund area. It speaks for itself. I’m always happy to see people wandering on the riverfront plaza of the museum and the coal hoppers. I’m quite moved by their happy vibes.

the continuation of the existing is more important than a new beginning

project info:

name: Common Landscape | Re-Cultivating Industrial Sites

architects: Atelier Deshaus, Shanghai | @atelierdeshaus

venue: Aedes Architecture Forum, Christinenstr. 18–19, 10119 Berlin 

dates: 1 April – 17 May 2023 

The post interview: atelier deshaus turns industrial ruins into ‘common landscapes’ at aedes berlin appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Henning Larsen Architects presents ‘Changing Our Footprint’, an explorative solo exhibition at Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin. Open until March 22, 2023, the show takes us on an inspiring journey introducing small but scalable steps toward a desirable future. Visitors are invited to wander among the studio’s vast scope of projects, discovering its working methods and materials and engaging in a dialogue that seeks to find pioneering ideas to create a buffer against the consequences of climate change.

On the opening day, designboom had the opportunity to sit down with Louis Becker, global design principal at Henning Larsen Architects, to talk about the exhibition as well as the studio’s vision to embrace high-impact solutions for a more sustainable future. According to the architect, the goal is not to provide the final solution but rather a reaction to the current situation. ‘Can urban development tackle past ideas?’, ‘what if architecture and landscape were one?‘, ‘what if the future is built of straw?’ are some of the questions that ‘unroll out of paper’ throughout the venue, giving the audience some food for thought.

The exhibition is divided into ‘Share’ and ‘Explore’, exchanging knowledge and exploring bio-based materials and new tools in the architectural process. The first space seeks to develop new innovative ideas, while the second one celebrates different bio-based materials such as wood, straw, eelgrass, mycelium, reused bricks, low-carbon concrete, and clay, which are explored in examples of selected projects. Topics like transformation, design for disassembly, 3D printing, engineering, acoustics, and indoor climate are demonstrated, while new digital tools are available to interact with. ‘As architects, we should, instead of freezing and stiffening in what we think is the right thing, find the beauty in testing, trying, and being provoked into something,’ Louis Becker tells designboom. Read our interview in full below.

exhibition view of the opening at Aedes | image ©designboom 

full header video ©designboom

new expressions of the built environment

designboom(DB): Henning Larsen’s practice is characterized by its sensitive design, producing architectural solutions with a profound respect for the environment and society. How has sustainable design come to be at the heart of the practice, and how has this approach developed throughout the years?

Louis Becker(LB): It started 15 years ago when we were working on different projects in the form of an internal discussion, but also because of the input clients or public authorities provided; it was very primitive at the time. We then decided to engage our first Ph.D. from a technical university with an engineering background. Jakob was the leader of a whole sustainable team, and he came to the studio bringing more scientific tools. With our design skills and his innovative tools, we started developing. Knowing from the beginning that we could not cover everything in this concern, we concentrated on energy consumption, as it was an intensely debated topic, at least in Scandinavia. Specifically, how much energy to use per square meter to light up the building. It took a couple of years, but we quickly learned ways of mitigating and lowering consumption, and from there, we started focusing on the microclimate. Especially in very warm or very cold climates, managing the microclimate and making it work properly becomes a big issue. In Canada, for instance, you can raise the temperature and create a much more pleasant outdoor time, whereas, in the Middle East, it’s about getting the wind through so you have a ventilated place at nighttime that wouldn’t reach 50 degrees, which is the top in the desert in the Middle East.

Next, we moved onto acoustics. We tested the buildings’ noise levels and how the light works. If you visit a Danish kindergarten nowadays, the noises are unbearable. How can you experience these circumstances on a daily basis? We learned that the noise levels are reduced by working with dedicated light — much lower light intensity. We reached the conclusion that when space is lit up differently, our voice naturally drops and goes down. This applies not only to kindergarteners, but also to schools, universities, and workspaces. Finally, we moved on to board materials, which are about carbon emissions. It seems like a never-ending topic because there are so many products and things to try and be sure of. And since there is no common way to do it globally, we have to dive into it specifically. We have people dedicated particularly to this, but we collaborate on the matter together with the universities. For example, we’re working with Columbia University to build the catalog base, but our team also knows the content of the gases and the materials; and that’s also part of the exhibition.

3D model depicting ‘Ørestad Church’ in Copenhagen | image ©designboom

how to avoid material waste and how to build sustainably

DB: Among the displayed projects, could you pick one you consider exemplary of sustainable high-performance design, and why?

LB: We have several projects that are high-performance. It’s interesting the way we conceive aesthetics, here, our notion of beautiful architecture changes a little bit because suddenly, you measure and judge from different perspectives. So one of the most sustainable projects we have in the exhibition is a small extension of a school in an influential part of Denmark. We constructed the whole building in straw and wood and made a mutilation system, as well as applied a clay surface on the walls. But part of this discussion of sustainability is, also, the more multi-faceted approach of construction, different from what you would normally do in traditional architecture. So buildings that might not look really exceptional can be really high performing. Of course, when you try to do architecture, you try to make it interesting and at the same time, sustainable and perform well. But it’s a journey, so in the big exhibition it is just a small piece of paper but then, there is the Volvo brand headquarters Exhibition Center for cars, which is, of course, an enormous project built entirely out of wood. In any case, what needs to be highlighted here is that smaller attempts are steps for us to get to where we need to be.

DB: Before you mentioned ‘beautiful and sustainable.’ Do you think that aesthetics and sustainability can coexist?

LB: Absolutely. I think our notion of beauty in architecture is changing at the moment a lot. For example, my fascination with casted concrete is very different at the moment than what it used to be 10 or 15, or 20 years ago. And so it is changing, of course, it had been changing all the way through in architecture, but at the moment it is changing more rapidly than it would normally. So if you stick to traditional classical architecture, you will get stopped. You somehow have to balance it with the sustainable aspects. And then, at some point, it will be developed itself. But when you see this as beautiful, it’s because you have changed your notion of what is beautiful.

DB: Do you see the traditional role of the architect changing, and how? What are the secrets to a healthier and sustainable future?

LB: I think we have to change to meet the challenges of the world that we’re living in. I don’t know if there are any secrets, but we need to change as the world is changing at a fast pace. If you look at architecture historically, over 500 years, you will see that it also changed because things were changing at the moment; the whole idea of modernism came through technology and an idea of a better world. But technology was the driver, the vehicle that made it happen, to use casted concrete outside and more rational building methods to build cheap, etc. So things are changing, but in my opinion, if we don’t change, we die.

like ‘standing under a canopy of trees’ a striking sculptural roof crowns ‘Ørestad  Church’ | image ©designboom

addressing climate change as a challenge rather than a threat 

DB: can you tell us what you are working on at the moment?

LB: I’m working on a big project here in Berlin right now. It’s a big urban development in kurfürstendamm. You will see it very soon in the press when it comes out.

DB: what do you hope for your audience to gain from your exhibition?

LB: I hope people, including architects, engineers, people in the building industry, but also private people or public servants, or people in government will see that sustainability in the built environment comes with a lot of small steps. And nobody has a formula that solves it all. Through this exhibition, we will share an open-source idea and we will create a dialogue. Of course, we don’t think we can find all the answers. One of the big things to show in the exhibition is the concrete issue, which is a big substance used in the construction industry throughout the world. It’s pretty naive to think they just say that ‘we will stop all the concrete tomorrow’, it simply won’t happen. It’s the most used substance after drinking water in the world. You can’t just stop it. Also, if you look at developing countries, how would you do anything without concrete or how to build the foundations unless you use advanced methods? So that’s one of the questions we’re trying to ask, who’s best in class at the moment, to come up with solutions for concrete?

We have invited some people from the UK to bring their views on zero-carbon concrete solutions. And then hopefully, it works. It’s still in a bit of a testing phase, but if it works, of course, then we have a decent way of continuing and using it in a much less harmful way than it is today. Even though we have a lot of organic materials and biodiverse, or bio-based materials, it would be super naive to say that the whole world would just use bio-based materials to build. It’s not going to happen for many years to come. So in a way, we have to do this in parallel and have more bio-based solutions to some of the concrete issues. And then, step by step, we’re getting into the workplace. But I also see a lot of opportunities. It’s a whole world, a new field that has brought us to places where we haven’t been before, and I love that this can happen.

So in many ways, I’m not seeing this just as a threat, the whole climate change and what we need to do about it, I also see it as a possibility to act. And I think most architects would hopefully see it like that, instead of a threat, that this is also a way of developing our own skills in new ways. So I really hope that when you see the exhibition, you get this feeling that there are many smaller steps that can be achieved and then there are bigger steps, and you cannot decide 100% on each of them before you are, actually, in that process, so to speak. And again, it’s not something that we can do alone, even though we are a very big practice. We work with universities, we work with smaller studios, we work with big and small engineering companies, etc. It is also rewarding in many ways. As architects, we should, instead of freezing and stiffening in what we think is the right thing, find the beauty in testing, trying, and being provoked into something.

Henning Larsen’s wood and bio-based material publication ‘Plant a Seed’ is on display and can be downloaded for free

the audience is invited to interact with biobased materials such as wood | image ©designboom

3D model on view: ‘World of Volvo’ in Gothenburg, 2022 | image ©designboom

‘Explore’ is dedicated to different bio-based materials such as straw | image © Rasmus Hjortshøj – COAST

exhibition view, a series of questions spread throughout the space | image © Rasmus Hjortshøj – COAST

image © Rasmus Hjortshøj – COAST

a new visual language | image ©designboom

image ©designboom

image ©designboom

project info:

exhibition name: Changing our footprint | A dialogue with Henning Larsen, Copenhagen

architects: Henning Larsen | @henninglarsenarchitects

venue: Aedes Architecture Forum | @aedesberlin

location: Christinenstraße 18-19, Berlin 

dates: 4 Feb to 22 Mar 2023

photography: ©Rasmus Hjortshøj – COAST, ©designboom

videography: ©designboom

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Scenic Architecture Office celebrates the opening of ‘Translated Traditions – Public Courtyards and Urban Platforms,’ with its current exhibition at Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin. On view now until January 25th, 2023, the show brings together nine programmatically very divergent projects, spotlighting the practice’s large body of work and design approach. designboom attended the opening at Aedes, and interviewed Zhu Xiaofeng, architect and founder of the Shanghai-based office, to talk about what informs its design process, and how the traditions can meet today’s demands and future expectations. (See the interview below)

Created in recent years in the Jiangnan region around the city of Shanghai — a site known for its humid subtropical summer and cool winter — the projects seamlessly blend into their urban or landscape setting, generating spaces that are functional and pleasant to experience even in severe climate conditions. The structures, ranging from rowing clubs and kindergartens to art galleries and cultural centers, are characterized by their generous public spaces in the form of inner courtyards or vertically layered platforms, while expressive roof arrangements foster versatile spatial concepts with staggered open levels that create airy and shaded gathering spaces. Usually extending horizontally, the architecture can be used all year round, despite the weather, informed by memories of the past and tradition and technically adjusted to meet today’s requirements. 

Shengli Street Neighborhood Committee and Senior Citizens’ Daycare Center, Shanghai | image and header video © designboom

interviewing scenic architecture 

designboom: ‘Translated Traditions – Public Courtyards and Urban Platforms’ is the title of the exhibition we will have the joy of attending afterward. Can you elaborate on this a bit more?

 Zhu Xiaofeng: What I always believed is that the past, the present, and the future is a continuous evolution. As the process continues, it’s essential for us to respect the past while we are trying to move forward to the future. Confronting contemporary challenges of environmental crisis, our traditions, including philosophical concepts and typology of space or tectonic, e.g., courtyard, platform, or roof system, can remind us to reflect on our technical rationality, enlighten us to improve our vision of sustainability, and inspire us to combine them with modern technology and contemporary life, to explore a new architecture.

DB: You have been offering architectural solutions for over 20 years – since the studio was founded. How has your studio evolved over this course?

ZX: We’ve constantly been examining how to use architecture as a vessel to explore a balanced and dynamic relationship between human environments and technology. This is something we never changed. But in terms of evolution, we do have some different eras in the past 20 years. From 2004, after I returned from the States to Shanghai, to 2011, I have worked more with context. I was amazed by the context I got, environmental and cultural. We worked with contexts at the urban scale, urban traditions, and contemporary urban realities. From 2012 to 2018, I was more interested in structural space, such as tectonic issues. I like the systematic approach, which is probably evident in our exhibition. Our team always uses a systematic methodology to create a new architecture, which can give people experiments of a new world or new, small cosmos. In the recent five years, we have worked more with typology. The more we work, the more practice we get, finding interest in reintroducing traditions, including traditional typology found either spatial, like the courtyard life, or even tectonic issues of a pitched roof heritage. So this is something that gives us freshness, and in combination with contemporary technologies, we seek to make new buildings.

Bridge of Nine Terraces, Nanjing Scenic Architecture Office | image ©Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

DB: Is there a philosophy that your practice is faithfully committed to?

ZX: I don’t think there was a philosophy in the beginning, I was just trying to make good architecture.
In recent years we have come up with some kind of philosophical concepts for our practice. We use three paths of architectural evolution: These are Body & Mind, Ontology, and Interaction. Body & Mind is the origin of architecture, all kinds of human-made things are created by the body and mind, including architecture. This should be how architecture gets started and how you think about it. It’s still very important for us, maybe until robots take over our bodies.

As for the second term: when architecture established itself, it started to have its own principles and logic. That is what I call ontology, including either spatial-wise or tectonic-wise. This is the autonomy of architecture. And the third path is interaction. Architecture can never get evolved without interactions with other elements and systems — artificial, natural, and social. In the past 10 or 20 years, technology took over this interaction again, just like 100 years ago, right after the industrial revolution, pushing architecture forward. In the second half of the 20th century, it might not have been technology; instead, it was maybe intellectual thoughts about architecture. So, I use this model to testify our works and try always to ask myself, how can I see the Body & Mind there; have I engaged deeply with the ontological architecture elements, and what are the interactions I had to push this new methodology over new projects? Behind these three terms, the basic philosophy of how to see these elements as equivalent or balanced grounds is Daoism from Chinese culture. This way of life sees humans and nature as one unification. Daoism respects nature and humans as equivalent; they coexist harmoniously. We have always trusted this kind of philosophy and to this day, we follow it faithfully.

Dongyuan Qianxun Community Center, Suzhou | image ©Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

DB: What are the biggest challenges you face when tradition meets today’s demands and/or future expectations?

ZX: We see tradition as an extraction of our past. We shall not see architectural tradition just as outdated history, it rather carries the wisdom of previous facts we shall respect, and bring them up to our future. The first challenge is on the level of methodology: how to find the bonding point between traditions and contemporaneity. Sometimes conflicts are revealed between literal references from tradition and those from contemporary life. Here the challenge is to find ways to make it more conceptual or ideological, giving solutions to this problem. The second challenge is the attitude of how you see tradition and its value. Sometimes it’s an arbitrary cutoff or separation from tradition; you need an impartial and innovative attitude to bind old and new.

DB: How do you see the traditional role of the architect changing, considering current issues such as climate change and sustainability?

ZX: In the contemporary world, the role of architects is becoming weak in a way. On the surface, it seems we’re doing more work, but it’s more of a passive era for architects. People are expecting too much from architecture, just giving too much load that architects cannot stand. We need to take a breath and make a break. But on the other hand, it is true that this passiveness is something that can guide us to even worse situations. So let’s try to be more positive, more dynamic, and even take more initiative.

Architecture is one of the principles that is a composite of a lot of disciplines. Nowadays, so many disciplines are becoming more and more fragmented. So architects need to become initiative generators and be conscious of leading fresh concepts and crossing boundaries. Meanwhile, technology can offer the opportunity for different groups of people to work together and draw inspiration from each other.

image ©Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

DB: What do you wish your audience takes away from the exhibition?

ZX: Maybe two things. First, I hope the audience, after seeing the exhibition, realizes that architecture is capable of using its autonomous power, including spatial and tectonic elements, of forming places for a new age that encourages dynamic interactions between humans, nature, and technology. Second, in the evolution of the cosmos, traditional wisdom is a refinement of our past and has been embedded in our body and mind. They can be stimulative with innovations, and help us create a future with equivalent respect to memory, continuity, and the unknown world. So I hope people believe that these traditions can be transmitted with innovations to help us to create a new future with the equivalent of respect to the past, the present, and the future.

Shanghai Google Creators’ Society Center, Shanghai | image ©Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk 

Bilingual Kindergarten Affiliated to East China Normal University, Shanghai | image ©designboom

image ©designboom

Zhu Xiaofeng, founder and architect of Scenic Architecture Office | image ©designboom

project info:

name: Translated Traditions – Public Courtyards and Urban Platforms

architects: Scenic Architecture Office

main architect and founder: Zhu Xiaofeng

location: Aedes Architecture Forum, Christinenstr. 18-19, Berlin

dates: 10 December 2022 – 25 January 2023

photography: ©Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk, ©designboom

videography: ©designboom

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Neri&Hu celebrates the opening of Reflective Nostalgia, its solo exhibition at Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin. On view now until November 30th, 2022, the show spotlights the Shanghai-based architecture studio’s large body of work which ’embraces the contradictions of modernity and explore multifaceted plot lines, imaginary pasts and prospective futures.’

Across their decades-long careers and extensive travels, the architects note the trend of major cities across Asia becoming more and more alike. ‘From Shenzhen or Seoul to Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok, the army of glassy high rise towers marching through each of their CBDs nearly obliterates any perceivable differences between these cities,’ the group explains. ‘In China this phenomenon is exacerbated by the sheer scale at which its process of urbanization and modernization has occurred.‘

images © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

‘reflective nostalgia’ through the lens of neri&hu

As demonstrated in the exhibition Neri&Hu: Reflective Nostalgia, the architects aim to harmonize ‘the optimization of advanced technology and the ever-present tendency to regress into nostalgic historicism.’ Seeking to be constructive, rather than dismissive, with the concept of nostalgia, the firm operates within an historic context to find productivity in the concept of ‘Reflective Nostalgia.’ 

This term, from which the show takes its name, was coined by scholar Svetlana Boym. According to Boym, restorative nostalgia is more literal; it attempts a ‘trans historical reconstruction of a lost home,’ and considers itself ‘as truth and tradition.’ In contrast, ‘reflective nostalgia thrives on algia (the longing itself) and delays the homecoming — wistfully, ironically, desperately. Reflective nostalgia does not follow a single plot but explores ways of inhabiting many places at once and imagining different time zones. It loves details, not symbols.’

The team elaborates: ‘In short, reflective nostalgia offers a critical distance that is less regressive than the former restorative nostalgia.’

balancing the old and new

Neri&Hu continue, describing the spirit of the ‘Reflective Nostalgia’ exhibition: ‘As a genre, the exhibited projects share similar strategies — using material contrast, tectonic differentiation, formal assemblage and surgical grafting. However, each project comes with its own set of unique issues related to how one engages a tumultuous concession-era heritage, resistance to the commercialization of faux historical relics, and the role of representation in the dialectics between past and present.

‘One can sense the delicate balance between the contrasts of new and old, smooth and textured, refined and raw. These projects also speak to an archeological approach of peeling back the layers, working with deletions as much as additions.’

‘On all scales of design, Neri&Hu embraces nostalgia as a productive lens, through which the team can consider an alternative reading of historical contexts as well as a different process of design within that context. It is a methodology that urges Neri&Hu to look closely at the details of the mundane, in hopes of achieving a deeper understanding of the heritage of those places that we want to not only participate in presently, but to extend to the future.’

project info:

exhibition title: Neri&Hu: Reflective Nostalgia

architects: Neri&Hu | @neriandhu
location: Aedes Architecture Forum | @aedesberlin
Neri&Hu Design and Research Office team: Lyndon Neri, Rossana Hu, Christine Chang, Federico Saralvo, Jan Lee, Yinzhu Shen, Luna Hong, Lyuqitiao Wang, Serein Liu, Amy Cao
Aedes Architecture Forum team: Julia Schlütsmeier-Hage, Hanna Düspohl
donors: Aranya, Youwell, De La Espada, La Manufacture
Aedes cooperation partners: Zumtobel, Cemex, Camerich, Erwin Hymer Group
on view: October 15 –- November 30, 2022
exhibition photography: © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

project photography: @ Hao Chen, Pedro Pegenaute, Derryck Menere

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From now until 17 August, an exhibition dedicated to Copenhagen-based architecture practice Dorte Mandrup is on view inside Berlin’s Aedes Architecture Forum. Titled ‘PLACE, a Symbiosis Between Architecture and Context’, the exhibition takes an in-depth look into the studio’s body of work and explores the strong bond between place and architecture.

The presentation is divided into two main parts: The journey starts through the ‘Wunderkammer’ section, where visitors are invited to touch, uncover, and relate emotionally to places through a rich collection of fragments. For Mandrup, the location of each project is a determining aspect of the design process. As part of her practice and their working methods, the architects seek to find potential in the broader context and the conditions, from geography, and climate, to the emotional narratives each place carries within. The idea of this room is to let visitors dive into the studio’s work process, including an extensive array of artifacts, materials, images, models, and sketches but also to inform them about the context, the site, and the storytelling behind it.

The creative clutter of the Wunderkammer is followed by the main exhibition, which is focused on five projects. These include the museum ‘The Whale’ on the island of Andøya in northern Norway, the ‘Exile Museum’ in Berlin, Germany, the ‘Wadden Sea Centre’ near Esbjerg, Denmark, the Trilateral World Heritage ‘Wadden Sea Partnership Centre’ in Wilhelmhaven, Germany, and Greenland’s ‘Ilulissat Icefjord Centre’. According to the architect, each project speaks its own distinct architectural language and differs in materiality, silhouette, and function. However, they are all sharing a common vision in the quest for sustainable solutions to the numerous challenges the world is facing today. They are all part of an already existing narrative and dedicated to the place they belong to.

Before the opening at the exhibition venue, designboom spoke with Dorte Mandrup to explore more about the exhibition, her vision of architecture, as well as her background— read the full interview below.

exhibition view at Aedes opening on 8th July

all images © designboom

designboom interviews dorte mandrup 

designboom (DB): What originally made you want to be an architect? Were you influenced by anybody? Please, tell us a little about your background.

Dorte Mandrup (DM): I haven’t had a straight track going towards architecture. I wanted to do sculpture and ceramics, and I did that for some time in the States. Then I came back to Denmark and studied medicine, but I stopped early. After all, I went to architecture school, and I immediately felt comfortable in it. Architecture combines a lot of different interests, both scientific and artistic. I have a very wide range of inspirations. I love early modernist architecture, but I also like architecture from around 1900. I also admire Japanese architecture and especially the traditional lightweight wooden structures. But apart from architecture, I also have a lot of influences and inspirations from art and movies.

DB: What was the best advice you have taken during your studies?

DM: I was lucky to have a very open-minded teacher when I was in architecture school. He always supported us in pursuing our interests as long as we worked seriously towards them. I admired this idea that anything that interests you is worthwhile as long as you are dedicated to it. This attitude has always been in the back of my mind. If you’re interested and curious, go for it. You need to investigate and challenge the established to push borders. You never know what’s next. So, be curious in a way; keep digging into subjects of your interest.

‘Wunderkammer’ accommodates an extensive collection of images, sketches, artefacts, fragments, and materials

DB: Considering current issues such as climate change and sustainability, how do you see the traditional role of the architect changing?

DM: The traditional role of the architect has been changing altogether over the last 20 years. When I started working, it was common to run a one-person business. Within the last few years, things have changed. Collaboration between many different fields and experts is crucial. Architecture is becoming too complicated to be able to fulfill that challenge on your own. We face many challenges today, such as climate change and social inequality. So, to solve these problems, it’s extremely important to acknowledge that you need to work in larger teams, including experts from all fields. Let’s say 20 or 30 years ago, it was much more about the architect bringing up an opinion. Today, it’s not enough to have just an opinion; but you need to have the knowledge and team up with people who have knowledge that you lack, instead of trying to do it all by yourself.

DB: You create buildings with a strong connection with their landscape, such as the ‘Icefjord Centre’ in Greenland, which blends into the expansive terrain effortlessly, or ‘The Whale in Norway, emerging with its aerodynamic shape like a soft hill. What’s the fascination of working in those vast landscapes?

DM: I was educated in a department that was only working on urban challenges. The urban has always been an interest, but the possibility of working with landscape as an emotional opportunity has been wonderful. It’s not often you get these chances to work in these vast, quiet, and sometimes harsh landscapes. For me, it has been a new thing and a sense of liberation. What we try to do in the office is mainly to find potential in the broader context and the conditions; the geography, the climate, and the emotional narratives around a place. When we work in landscapes, their narrative comes first. In contrast, if you work in an urban context, it is much more about the memory and the events that have happened in and around a place.

guests are invited to touch and unearth some of the stories and elements behind the project’s places

DB: But on the other hand, are there any particular challenges you face working on these landscapes?

DM: Working both with the ‘Ilulissat Icefjord Centre’ and ‘The Whale’ was about how to relate to the landscape without changing its unique character. We focused on how to bring more into this outstanding topography, more than is already there, and how to create something cultural while still maintaining balance with nature. To me, landscape, nature, and culture are not enemies. When you work in a landscape, you need to understand this balance between human-made and natural to achieve a parallel existence. 

We also try in a more abstract way to link to the cultural context. The building in the Icefjord is much more about the characteristic instruments, including the Kayak and the hunting tools of Greenland. The Norwegian project is more concerned with the relationship between the crust of the earth and the ocean bottom. A common point for our projects is to serve as a meeting place for people and an open field for everybody to act upon.

She continues: Regarding the ‘Icefjord Centre’, the possibility of being able to walk on the roof is creating a place in the big place; it’s a point of departure or a point of return in this enormous, vast landscape. We don’t try to be part of the landscape but create a protected structure, a humane place in the landscape. Once people visit the building, there is an immediate desire to walk on top of it. From there, one can overview the Icefjord for the first time. It’s like climbing a hill, and then you can see what’s going on behind it. At the same time, it’s also kind of a ritual. People are getting married on top of the Icefjord Centre. That’s really a success because it’s everybody’s place, open like a landscape. The same strategy we also followed with ‘The Whale’. We sought to create an open place with a flexible program; a layout that is free for interpretation without specific functions.

As for the ‘Wadden Sea Centre’, settled on a UNESCO world heritage site, the challenge was to unite the new centre’s functions and the very particular landscape in which it is built. We aimed to accentuate the horizontality and create a building that is part of the existing vast surface. Working on an area with harsh winds, the aim was to form a place inside a courtyard acting as a unique piece of micro-architecture to protect itself from the elements. It’s more like a hollow structure that embraces a quiet place.

the projects are informed by their surroundings and their unique emotional narratives

DB: Afterward, we will have the joy of attending the exhibition named ‘PLACE’? Can you tell us a little more about the title and what you hope for your audience to gain from your exhibition?

DM: ‘PLACE’ presents the strong interrelation between place and architecture. We’re explaining the way we work. The context or the notion of place and identity and the specificity of being here is informing, almost shaping the architecture. I don’t believe architecture is an object, but it’s deeply related to the place. In our practice, we always try to draw inspiration from the place and the narratives. It could be anything that inspires us, from climate to history. It’s like a puzzle whose pieces inform the architecture. They are strongly related to the site, but in many different ways, both emotionally and also very sort of directly.

Apart from the exterior conditions, we take into account the interior aspects as well. For example, in designing the ‘Exile Museum’ within the Anhalter Bahnhof, there is an uncomfortable condition related to history and narrative after ’33, when the Nazis went for global power. The same site was once a place of joy where people were experiencing the liberated Berlin. So, one may discover many contradicting layers. In our projects, we try to embed all of these stories into architecture, even if it is an uncomfortable story.

DB: Running your own studio for more than 20 years, starting off on your own, and growing into a 75-employee company, what piece of advice would you give to young architects, and particularly to those who want to start their own practice?

DM: When you start your own office, the most necessary aspect is to understand the energy you use. The key is not to waste your energy on projects that are not worth it. You should be very specific about what you’re trying to achieve and work towards that. What I did when I first started, was trying to get a job or do some work, taking on projects that only hindered my progress. Sometimes you spend time on projects, with clients, or doing things that are not worth it. So in a way, avoid doing what I did. It’s really important to keep your focus and to understand what you actually want to do with architecture, and you should try to pursue that without obstruction. Of course, you have to survive and earn some money, but try to pick your clients very carefully.

To women architects, I would add: you are still up against a lot of very confident young men, and only because they’re acting confidently doesn’t mean they’re better than you are. So keep your self-assurance and your confidence that you can do things. Take a deep breath and just do it.

each little piece invites visitors to dive into the narratives that have informed the architecture

the buildings become an expression of Mandrup’s way of thinking about architecture

portrait of Dorte Mandrup after the interview

project info:

exhibition name: PLACE, A Symbiosis Between Architecture and Context

architects: Dorte Mandrup

venue: Aedes Architecture Forum, Christinenstr. 18-19, 10119 Berlin

dates: 9 July – 17 August 2022

After Aedes, the exhibition will be on view at Le Bicolore in Paris in September 2022.

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