Photographer: Adam Mørk | ArchDaily

The Crafts College / Dorte Mandrup

Pilar Caballero — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The new Crafts College in Herning, Denmark, is conceived as a living teaching tool, formed to inspire and nurture the community. Designed by Danish architecture studio Dorte Mandrup, the building celebrates the close connection between craftsmanship and architecture while responding to the decline in vocational training enrollment by offering a place where young craftspeople can thrive both personally, socially, and professionally. From the homes we inhabit to the schools, workplaces, and cultural institutions that frame our everyday life. Our built environment relies profoundly on skilled craftspeople. Yet in Denmark, as in many other countries, the value of craft professions has been increasingly overlooked, with vocational programs experiencing a marked decline in recent years. As part of a broader initiative to establish dedicated residences for apprentices, the Crafts College in Herning aims to restore pride and relevance to vocational education. It is designed to not only foster wellbeing and a sense of belonging among young craftspeople, but also to demonstrate – through form, materials, and construction – the cultural and societal significance of crafts.

Center for Health / Dorte Mandrup

Pilar Caballero — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 12:00:00 +0000

The new Center for Health in Copenhagen combines plenty of daylight, natural materials, greenery, and room for movement and community to support rehabilitation and treatment of lifestyle-related diseases. Designed by Danish architecture studio Dorte Mandrup, the building features an impressive central space, formed by the sculptural rhythm of 15-meter-high timber arches.

Wadden Sea World Heritage Center / Dorte Mandrup

Pilar Caballero — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Danish architecture studio Dorte Mandrup creates a 360-degree experience of the landscape with the completion of their second out of three projects at the UNESCO-protected Wadden Sea area. Functioning as both exhibition space and working field station, the new Wadden Sea World Heritage Centre in Lauwersoog, Netherlands, aims to foster a deeper, more personal connection to this important ecosystem.

Leisure Architecture: 13 Projects Shaping Togetherness Across Generations

Daniela Andino — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Leisure spaces are often where different generations cross paths. Without formal programs or assigned roles, they allow people to move, pause, and remain together, each engaging space in their own way. In a built environment increasingly shaped by specialization and separation, these shared spatial grounds have become less common, giving leisure-oriented architecture a renewed relevance.

Expanding Practice: Architecture Think Tanks at the Intersection of Research and Design

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 07:30:00 +0000

In architecture, most practices revolve around delivering projects to clients. Offices are shaped by deadlines, budgets, and clear briefs. While this structure produces buildings, it rarely leaves space for architects to question broader issues — about how we live, how cities are changing, or what the future demands of design. But alongside this production-focused system, a quieter movement has emerged: studios, collectives, and foundations that prioritize research, experimentation, and reflection. These are the architecture think tanks — spaces designed not to build immediately, but to think first.

Rethinking Prefabrication From Standardization to Design Freedom

Eduardo Souza — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Once synonymous with monotony, “prefabricated” buildings often bring to mind the gray, repetitive housing blocks of the postwar era. But that image no longer fits today’s reality. Powered by digital design, robotics, and advanced materials, prefabrication has evolved into a language of innovation and precision. Far from uniform, it now enables flexible, efficient, and sustainable spaces that reflect the individuality of contemporary architecture.

Living Places Copenhagen / EFFEKT

Hadir Al Koshta — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 17:00:00 +0000

The vision of the overall concept - Living Places – which was initiated by EFFEKT, Artelia and the VELUX Group, is to lead the way within the building industry and show how rethinking buildings can help solve some of the global climate and health challenges. The concept is based on five key principles: homes should be healthy, affordable, simple, shared over time and scalable. These principles can be applied to new or existing buildings and communities.

Copenhagen Architecture City Guide: 25 Projects Defining Denmark's Capital of Livable Design

Maria-Cristina Florian — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 07:30:00 +0000

For most architecture enthusiasts, mentions of the city of Copenhagen will prompt images of pedestrian-friendly streets, suspended bike lanes, quaint water canals, and overall happy residents. The capital of Denmark has many accomplishments to boast: over 60 percent of its residents commute to work by bike, it was among the first cities to set up a strategic plan to achieve carbon neutrality, resulting in an 80% decrease since 2009, and it has become one of the most cited study cases for its urban planning and infrastructure. This reputation was officially cemented when UNESCO named Copenhagen the 2023 World Capital of Architecture, recognizing the city's enduring role as a laboratory for innovative contemporary design and people-centered urbanism. This September, the inaugural Copenhagen Architecture Biennial transforms the city into a global platform for dialogue under the theme "Slow Down," exploring how architecture can respond to global pressures by rethinking the pace of change. The occasion is also marked by the launch of ArchDaily's 5th edition of Next Practices Awards, solidifying the city's status as a nexus for contemporary architectural thought.

The Niels Bohr Building / Christensen & Co. Architects + Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects

Pilar Caballero — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The Niels Bohr Building is an iconic home for the Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen. The building provides the university with highly specialized research facilities and community-building spaces. Here, students, professors, and researchers come together in a non-hierarchical research community. The architectonic concept of the Niels Bohr Building is inspired by the heritage of the well-known Danish scientist Niels Bohr and the international science scene he created in Copenhagen in the 1920s and 1930s.

Public School Meatpacking District Copenhagen / NORD Architects + BBP Arkitekter

Pilar Caballero — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 03:00:00 +0000

A new public school has just opened in the Meatpacking District. Here, the focus is on food, architecture, learning, and movement. The school was designed in close collaboration between Danish NORD Architects and BBP Architects.

Navigating Boundaries: The Architectural Legacy of Lighthouses

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Lighthouses have stood along the margins of continents and islands for centuries as points of light in vast maritime territories. Rising in solitude from rocky cliffs, reefs, and headlands, these towers were tools for navigation and instruments of spatial clarity, shaping coastlines and marking the boundary between land and sea. Built to guide, warn, and locate, they constituted a global network of visibility long before the advent of digital mapping. Yet as maritime technologies evolved, many of these structures lost their original purpose. The typology, once essential, now stands at the edge of obsolescence. What remains is not merely an architectural relic, but a powerful spatial form — resilient, symbolic, and increasingly open to reinterpretation.

A Legacy of Wood Transformed into a Creative Hub

Rene Submissions — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 06:45:00 +0000

What can our existing buildings teach us about building for the future? In a time of dwindling resources, architects are increasingly called to engage in dialogue—with the site, its history, and the untapped potential of what already stands. Rather than defaulting to demolition and new construction, the future of architecture may rest in uncovering the possibilities for innovation within buildings that have already stood the test of time.

Dansehallerne National Center for Dance and Choreography / Mikkelsen Architects

Hadir Al Koshta — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Mikkelsen Architects has led the transformation of Kedelhuset into Dansehallerne's new national center for contemporary dance and choreography. Our transformation strategy has been to respect and stage the existing conservation values, with new additions dialoguing with the historical framework so that new and old mutually reinforce each other. The ground floor is arranged around a central core housing a foyer and bar, with dance studios, dressing rooms, and workshops radiating outward.

Living Places Copenhagen: A Living Lab to Test the Experimental Building Project

Rene Submissions — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 07:45:00 +0000

It's been four years since the VELUX Group, together with partners EFFEKT architects and Artelia engineers, first embarked on Living Places. The experimental housing project demonstrated that building more sustainable homes using readily available products, materials and technologies is possible. Putting the ultra-low carbon housing concept to the test, VELUX conducted a study with 98 live-in guests to evaluate whether sustainable homes can also provide indoor comfort. Using a combination of environmental sensors and guest questionnaires, the findings reveal that the homes maintain a comfortable indoor climate in line with European Standards and had a positive effect on the well-being of guests, showing that building for planet can also greatly benefit people.

Lighthouse Building / 3XN

Hadir Al Koshta — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Lighthouse is a residential-led, mixed-use development situated at the tip of Aarhus Harbour, facing the water, and pinpointing the transition from Aarhus Bay. Openness, safety, and diversity characterize the development, which combines a high-rise structure with a group of mid-rise buildings to foster community and interaction. Completed in two phases, the development combines private as well as social housing. A waterfront promenade with public restaurants, cafes, and retail space invites visitors into the site and creates a lively and diverse streetscape. Phase two saw the completion of Denmark's tallest building which includes a public rooftop restaurant allowing visitors to share the incredible views over the city and Aarhus Bay. "We think the project is a lighthouse in more than one sense. Obviously, the building will become a landmark. But it is also an example of how we should be doing urban development in a way that catalyzes activities and social relations." - Kim Herforth Nielsen, Founder and Creative Director, 3XN.

Danske Bank’s Domicile / Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects

Pilar Caballero — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Danske Bank’s new headquarters is the setting for a modern company with more than 140 years of history. The two buildings that make up the HQ promote a simple, non-hierarchical organizational structure with a focus on innovation, cooperation, and accessibility. The two red brick-built structures add to the rich long-standing tradition of brick architecture in Copenhagen and create a visual connection to the classic city blocks that are characteristic of the area. The new headquarters contribute to a more coherent Bernstorffsgade and greatly enhance the experience of arriving into the city from Kalvebod Brygge. The building’s brick exterior opens up, transitioning into a transparent glass facade that invites people in from several sides. Overall, the goal was to create a welcoming and unique experience for customers and visitors to the buildings, as well as a workplace that helps attract and retain talented employees.

Trekroner Church / Rørbæk og Møller Arkitekter

Hadir Al Koshta — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 07:00:00 +0000

In the city of Roskilde, Denmark, stands the Trekroner Church, a modern architecture that redefines the traditional concept of a religious space. One of the church's striking features is its organic curves, achieved through an extraordinary effort of casting nine concrete sections on-site using over two hundred molds. This pioneering approach highlights the church's commitment to groundbreaking architectural methods. In Trekroner Church, the art and the architecture melt together. Right from the start, the architects worked closely and with mutual respect with the artists, so that architecture and art became a whole, a symbiosis of art and architecture.

Furuset Hageby Dementia Village / NORD Architects + 3RW Arkitekter

Hadir Al Koshta — Sun, 07 Jul 2024 02:00:00 +0000

The new dementia village in Oslo, Norway – ‘Furuset Hageby’ – is designed to answer the future demands of age-related care and living by creating continuity in life and avoiding the experience of being in an institution. With recreational gardens, open everyday functions such as a hairdresser, restaurant, culture house, grocery shops, and dementia-friendly design the future residents will live in a familiar and homely village environment, and the caregivers are given an attractive workplace. With an increasingly large group of elders who are affected by dementia, there is a need to innovate and rethink our healthcare services and facilities.