Catastrophic floods in recent years have highlighted the urgent water-related impacts of climate change, pushing it to the top of the global agenda. While much attention has been paid to rising temperatures, flooding poses an immediate and critical threat to millions worldwide.  So, how do we design urban spaces to handle increasing volumes of water? Can we learn to work with nature rather than against it, and even enhance urban life in the process?  In this episode of Let’s Talk...

Mette Mechlenborg, senior researcher at Aalborg University, is the co-author of a new study on life in Danish high-rise residential buildings—the first of its kind in over fifty years. This long gap is partly due to Denmark's historical reluctance to embrace high-rise living, especially for families. However, the landscape is shifting, with several tall towers now rising near Copenhagen's city center and more on the way. So, what has changed since the last study?  In this episode of Let’s...

How do we decide which buildings are worth preserving? And will the climate crisis reshape our answer to this question?  In this episode of Let's Talk Architecture, host Michael Booth joins Kristoffer Lindhardt Weiss, CEO of The Danish Architectural Press, for an architectural tour of Copenhagen - from the iconic yet controversial Palads Cinema to Arne Jacobsen’s Modernist SAS Royal Hotel.  Together they explore the landscape of architectural preservation, and ask: Could sustainable...

How can architecture transform the experience of healthcare for children? Can design elements like colors, materials, shapes, and daylight even help improve the young patients’ lives?  Denmark is about to get its first purpose-built children’s hospital, Børneriget, which is scheduled to open in 2026 in central Copenhagen. Børneriget aims to redefine pediatric healthcare with its unique "finger plan" layout, focusing on creating a welcoming and safe environment through thoughtful design....

How can you create more sustainable, affordable, and inclusive housing if you also happen to live in a capitalist society? And can you even exploit the capitalist system to create a better world?  Home.Earth might have an answer. As a new and rather radical real estate company, Home.Earth is doing things differently: The company not only builds low-emission, high-quality housing – they also take care of finding tenants, manage the properties afterwards and give tenants a share of their...

The term ‘15 Minutes City’ was coined in 2016 to describe a locally oriented urban design strategy. Shops, healthcare, education, work, and entertainment – all should be accessible within a 15 minutes' walk or bike ride from your home. The aim is to create a people-centered urban development that decentralizes to create more lively local neighborhoods.  The concept is already being implemented in cities across the world – from Paris, Madrid, and Copenhagen to Shanghai and Bogotá. But what...

Ukraine has seen many of its cities and towns destroyed. One day they will hopefully be rebuilt - with great costs and a large climate footprint as a result. But what are the alternatives? Danish NGO, Arkitekter Uden Grænser (Architects Without Borders), is already working on a solution: With the pilot project Build-back-green a sustainable building system using biogenic materials - straw, clay, and timber – is introduced in the Ukrainian city of Voznesensk.  Can rebuilding in war-torn or...

Concrete and steel. We know that both of these mainstream building materials come with a massive CO2 cost, and that we need to find alternatives. One way forward is the reintroduction of traditional materials and invention of new bio-based materials. But the implementation of the new materials requires large and challenging changes for the entire building industry. What will it take to kickstart these massive changes? And what happens when starting at a more tangible level: With the building...

In Herlev, a suburb of Copenhagen, the site of a former asphalt factory is being transformed into a new housing area. At first glance, this is a building site like many others, dominated by cranes, concrete and safety helmets. But in fact, a pilot project out of the ordinary is taking place here. Leaded by innovation agency NXT, the project invites artists to analyze the site that is being transformed. By interacting with the local biodiversity, diving into the landscape’s history, and...

Søren Pihlmann, founder of pihlmann architects, is among the hottest up-and-coming names in Danish architecture right now. Known for his ambitious approach to transformations, Søren Pihlmann insists on reusing as much of the existing buildings as possible - from plumbing to concrete beams - and adapting them for the new purpose of the building.  In this episode, host Michael Booth visits Søren Pihlmann at the building site of one of his most radical projects yet: Thoravej 29 in north-west...

Living Places is an experimental village in Copenhagen that challenges the way we build and live today. Initiated by VELUX and built in partnership with EFFEKT Architects and Artelia, the temporary village’s low emission homes suggest a whole new way of thinking about a series of urgent matters: From environmental footprint to indoor climate, biodiversity, affordability, and community building. As a case study for the Reduction Roadmap project, a plan to reduce the CO2 emission of new...

What is the price to be paid for being an uncompromising architect? And is the uncompromising approach to architecture a thing of the past? In 2023 the Sydney Opera House can celebrate its 50th anniversary. The building was designed by the then unknown Danish architect, Jørn Utzon, and it has become a milestone in modern architecture. But the Sydney Opera House also represents an often-seen story of the complexities and challenges of large and innovative building projects: A story of...

How do you address the issues related to disadvantaged public housing areas, often affected by high unemployment, crime, and other challenges? The question is common to many cities across Europe. In Denmark the government is combining social and architectural interventions in the most troubled areas: With the ‘parallel society law’, up to 60% of existing residents are evicted, and entire housing blocks are being renovated and improved. The aim is to convert troubled housing areas into...

One way the built environment can mitigate its massive negative climate impact is by focusing architecture on reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling elements. Essentially building within a circular economy framework. However, many central players in the building industry are reluctant to change their approach to materials usage. So, what is preventing us from building a circular society? In this live episode of Let’s Talk Architecture, Michael Booth sits down in a cross-cultural...

Cities are attracting more and more people, but finding an affordable home can become a struggle – especially for students making the move. In Copenhagen the demand for student housing has led to new ways of building and living. The goal is to create space for more people by living smaller and sharing more. CPH Village is a leading actor in constructing – and experimenting with – temporary and affordable housing. But this is no easy task changing the housing industry – and the law. In this...

What are the secrets behind producing great architects? This question becomes increasingly difficult to answer simply as the world becomes ever more complex and undergoes constant change. Therefore, creating a learning environment for students that empowers the next generation to tackle societal challenges was of utmost importance when Architecture School in Aarhus needed a new home. In this episode of Let’s Talk Architecture, the host, Michael Booth, visits the Architecture School in Aarhus...

Can ‘inclusivity’ as a design principle bring about new forms to our learning environments? In this episode of ‘Let’s talk architecture’ our guest expert, architect Eva Ravnborg from the architecture company Henning Larsen, shares insights on how inclusive design principles can create equitable learning spaces. She takes the host, Michael Booth on a tour to Frederiksbjerg School, which the studio designed to activate children in various kinds of ways that allow them ‘to get through the day...

These days artificial intelligence (AI) is in the spotlight – from fearsome warnings about societal impacts presented by leading figures in the tech industries and on to hopeful imaginations of a better future. But can AI also help create better, more sustainable, and even more democratic architecture? At the architectural company Henning Larsen they seem to think so, and their use of AI in their architectural practices help running big operations more smoothly. In this episode of Let’s talk...

The UN General Secretary proclaims the climate change consequences will be of ‘biblical proportions’. But what will that feel like in the cities we know and love today – and what can we expect from the solutions? That is what the team behind the Danish Contribution to the Venice Architecture Biennale has set out to explore. The contribution “Coastal Imaginaries” explores how we can secure the livability in coastal cities by staging the future scenarios theatrically to create emotional...

In 2023 Copenhagen is named the World Capital of Architecture by UNESCO due to the city’s livability and architecture which is renowned and praised by internationals as well as locals. But not all architectural realities deserve an award, and in this episode, we take a hard look at some of the Copenhagen buildings we condemn rather than praise. Your host Michael Booth takes a tour around the city with Holger Dahl, architectural critic from the Danish national newspaper Berlingske, and...

No one knows what the future brings, so how can architects make sure their design is resilient tomorrow as well as today? Resilience is a hot topic in architecture circles, and it’s increasingly on the agenda from the earlier stages of design and planning. But what does ‘resilience’ even mean? And how do you design for livable cities and resilient communities in an unknown future? We went to Berlin to discover how the German capital can be considered resilient. Martin Henn, the third...

How does the design of your office impact the way you work? In many ways our working and learning environments can be improved if you ask research and development architect Klaudio Muca from the architectural firm CEBRA Architecture. They have collected research and conducted interviews with leading scientists about the way space influences our emotions and state of mind – which then shapes our creativity and productivity. Some call it neuroarchitecture – a discipline where the neuroscience...

By the hour we grow more aware that our planet’s resources are scarce, and that we urgently must shift from an exploitative to a regenerative architecture. But how? What resources do we have at hand, how are new materials engineered and experienced, and what new materials and design solutions will we have to get used to? In this episode of Let's talk architecture we went to France to explore the sensuous French-ness and talk about how we must rethink our resources in the way we build. We...

How can our cities handle the extreme weather the future brings? Architecture plays an important role in making our cities livable even in extreme weather conditions. As the future will bring turbulent weather of differing characters, the solutions too are diverse. In this episode of Let's talk architecture, you can hear about some of the manifold approaches to adapting the city to the dramatically changing climate and weather: Greening of buildings and flood protection of the city. Paolo...