Let's Talk Architecture

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 in more than 100 different ways’. From accessible entrances and classrooms to considering acoustics and lighting for sensory sensitivities, Eva explains various ways to incorporate inclusivity. Join us as we explore the transformative impact of inclusive school architecture on student success and well-being.

Let's talk architecture is a Danish Architecture Center podcast, sound edits by Munck Studio. You can hear previous episodes here.

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 meets architecture. Innovative companies around the world have shared their approach to creating working environment that improves the creativity, and CEBRA has been curious enough about this that they have put all this knowledge in the WISE Journal. In this episode of Let’s Talk Architecture our host, Michael Booth, gets a tour of the CEBRA office in Aarhus, where they are experimenting with neuroarchitecture in their own working environment to support different workflows and needs of their employees.

Let’s Talk Architecture is a Danish Architecture Center podcast produced by Muck Studios. You can hear previous episodes here.

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 Talk Architecture, host Michael Booth meets Mette at Nordbro in Nørrebro, one of the buildings featured in her research. Together, they explore the qualities of high-rise living and ask the question: Can Danish families truly live happy and fulfilling lives 100 metres above the ground?

Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by the Danish Architecture Center.

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 arranging experimental workshops, the project uses art as a method of measuring some of the factors, we would normally find unmeasurable: The aesthetic, historical and sense-evoking traits of a place.

The project is part of Desire – an Irresistible Circular Society, a contribution to EU’s New European Bauhaus initiative, launched in 2020 to create sustainable, inclusive, and attractive solutions for city planning and construction. In line with the EU initiative, the project in Herlev aims to gain a different (and maybe even deeper) understanding of the site before it is developed – the idea being, that a green transition of the construction industry and its conventions requires unconventional new approaches.

But what kind of value can artists bring to the building site, normally characterized by hardcore calculations, strict timelines, and excel sheet-loving construction managers? And how do you take care of the existing qualities of a place while transforming it?

Take a listen to this episode of Let’s Talk Architecture, where host Michael Booth meets Madeleine Kate McGowan, artist, speculative designer, and artistic leader at NXT.

Let’s Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center, with sound edits by Munch Studio.

It’s not every day a new park opens in the centre of a capital city, and this one is extra special. Copenhagen’s new Opera Park is not just a nice place to relax in the shadow of the opera house. It represents a radical departure from the type of parks found elsewhere in the city: this harbourfront garden is a place for the contemplation of nature, of trees and plants from around the world, of water, and of sky. It’s blessedly free from programming - there are no cycle paths, no running tracks, no outdoor gyms and no playgrounds.

For this episode we are lucky enough to be joined by its designer, Maj Wiwe, landscape director at Cobe. She explains the original idea behind the park, but also the extraordinary technical challenges involved in constructing a mature garden with 10 metre-high trees and a cafe. On top of a multi-storey car park. Which is buried underground. On reclaimed land. In the harbour. You see what we mean by challenges?