The inaugural Copenhagen Architecture Biennial launched today with a bold mission to create practical solutions for global challenges exacerbated by the built environment. Under the theme "Slow Down," the month-long event features more than 250 programs including exhibitions, conferences, open house initiatives, and two specially commissioned Slow Pavilions across the Danish capital.
Director Josephine Michau, who leads the Copenhagen Architecture Foundation (CAFx), emphasized that this biennial aims to be fundamentally different from other global architecture events. "We're not just another biennial – we're deeply rooted in our local fabric, both the built environment and the social fabric of the city," Michau explained. "The Copenhagen Architecture Biennial is really designed to question the very premise of architectural production."
Michau contrasts her event with traditional architecture biennials, describing most others as "fast-paced, competitive and heavily focused on production." Instead, the Copenhagen Architecture Biennial (CAB) is "founded in the urban fabric of Copenhagen itself, and really rooted in slowness, reflection." She argues this approach is essential given "the global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, social fragmentation and resource scarcity."
The biennial deliberately engages "a lot of actors that define architecture, but that are not necessarily architects," according to Michau. This includes the general public who interact with architecture daily, as well as policy makers, financial advisors, psychologists, sociologists, and anthropologists. "The whole idea was born out of the desire to engage in architecture not as a professional discipline only, but as a cultural force that has an impact on everyone's lives, whether we are aware of it or not," she stated.
Organizers specifically sought contributors who are "deeply rooted in their local context, but at the same time, are not afraid of asking difficult questions about our global systems." The two commissioned Slow Pavilions exemplify this philosophy – both are constructed from repurposed materials and will be dismantled and reused after the event concludes. One pavilion, titled "Inside Out, Downside Up," was created by Slaatto Morsbøl.
Michau describes these pavilions as examples of rethinking architectural production by creating designs that won't leave permanent traces. "It's not a heavy production; it doesn't leave these sinful traces that we know that architecture often does," she explained. "We need to slow down, we've been over-producing for so long. Western societies have been working under this over-acceleration, where there's an upsurge in population and GDP, waste production and resource consumption."
The building industry represents a primary target for the biennial's reform message. Michau calls construction "one of the big sinners" when it comes to resource use and emissions, noting that it's "responsible for 37 percent of the global CO2 emissions, 30 percent of the biodiversity loss and 30 percent of waste production." She argues the sector must change its fundamental operating methods, stating: "It's not 'when will it slow down', it's 'how will it slow down'? Will it be like a big slap in the face?"
Rather than merely discussing change theoretically, CAB aims to produce concrete frameworks and proposals for actual implementation. "We are asking lawyers to help outline legal proposals together with practitioners who are working towards this transition," Michau revealed. The goal is "to have a building sector that operates within planetary boundaries, and at the same time, creates a thriving environment for both people and planet."
Michau believes Denmark's political structure provides unique advantages for turning biennial proposals into reality. The country's parliamentary democracy offers "easy access to decision makers" with minimal hierarchy, making it "easy to find your way through the system." This accessibility allows participants to contact local decision-makers more feasibly than in many other locations and actually push for solution implementation.
The Copenhagen Architecture Forum plans to continue developing promising proposals beyond the biennial's conclusion. "We will continue to explore and discuss [what we've learned] post-biennial, and if it takes another month or two months to actually create that potentially impactful proposal, then we're going to use those one or two months," Michau committed.
Michau concluded with a call to action, declaring: "It's time for activism. I see ourselves as maybe more 'soft activists', but we really want to push for change." The Copenhagen Architecture Biennial runs through October 19, 2025, with events taking place throughout the city as part of this groundbreaking initiative to transform how architecture addresses global environmental challenges.
