The path to the future is flanked with unique challenges that cannot be dealt with through extant ways—the future calls for a new approach and fresh perspectives. This overdue shift in notions trickles down from scales as large as urban design and architecture to relatively trivial lifestyle changes. Today, viewing the ‘default’ through a lens of scrutiny as opposed to one of acceptance and ignorance has become crucial—questioning prevalent frameworks down to their very foundations. The subsequent unlearning that escorts this investigation has offered a blank canvas to the creative community to reconsider and innovate for a future built on the planet’s terms. What will this future—its urban districts, architecture, biodiversity and their dialogue—look like?

Materials and methods that pave the way for the future of building take the stage at the Danish Architecture Center in Copenhagen for the second iteration of the show Changing or Footprint. The event's first edition opened at the Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin earlier this year. The exhibition space harbours ideas by global firm Henning Larsen Architects on forging a sustainable transition of architecture. It sheds light on the possibilities of the future's climate-friendly architecture: “Will we have to get used to living in houses made of straw? Will there be new urban districts built of soil and grass instead of asphalt and cement? How do architects work with biodiversity at different scales? And are the building methods of the past the saviour of the future?” the concept note questions. Open from November 17, 2023, to March 3, 2024, the initiative broaches and encourages conversations on the role of architecture and the construction industry—currently contributing 40 per cent of the global carbon footprint—in alleviating the effects of climate change.

Henning Larsen is an acclaimed studio working in the spheres of architecture, landscape design and urbanism with a focus on sustainability and interior, graphic, and lighting design hubs in Copenhagen, New York, Singapore, Berlin and Oslo. The play of light and nature resides at the core of their practice, creating space for communities to interact with the environment and each other. Curiosity drives their diverse expeditions, further bolstered by an extended scope encompassing creativity, research and knowledge. As a global architecture practice, addressing challenges and responsibilities apropos of the needs of the people and the planet becomes indispensable. Recognising the pressing need for a detour from ongoing practices, the firm breathed life into Changing our Footprint as a call to (un)learn and act. “If the building industry is to take its responsibility seriously, there will have to be a shift in perspective, so buildings are based on the planet's terms instead of our own terms as human beings,” the press release states.

The architecture exhibition invites visitors to dive into the architect’s journey towards the future of building that ought to be more climate-friendly than today—if there is to be any hope of achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Today, many of Henning Larsen's projects are designed in biogenic materials, and overall the firm is working on almost 400,000 square metres of timber building in Europe alone. Offering a glimpse of the world of architecture and hope for the future building industry, the architects roll out their sketches showcasing their systematic work with research and scalable, climate-friendly solutions. These solutions range from minor biogenic projects such as a small school in Djursland to much larger construction projects such as a new logistics centre made of wood. Each of the displayed projects is a culmination of thorough studies of new materials, methods and research—striding towards the green transition of the building industry.

“We are testing new materials and solutions at a small scale, and we are working on adapting them to larger projects. Our main objective is to transfer our innovative methods from small buildings of 200 square metres to areas of up to 200,000 square metres. This scaling is our important contribution to meeting the goal to reduce the carbon footprint of the building industry,” Eva Ravnborg, Partner and Country Market Director at Henning Larsen Architects, talks about their work on scaling.  

Drawing from its previous chapter, Changing our Footprint has now been re-curated into a smaller version for the Gallery Stairs in the Danish Architecture Center and is being funded by the philanthropic association Realdania. Visitors can enter the Gallery Stairs at the Danish Architecture Center and explore projects and processes, as well as some of the crucial lessons the architects have learned. The exhibition stages models of future construction projects, a cross section of a new type of wall insulated with straw, and windows with seagrass ventilators. These are accompanied by an opportunity to learn more about how much carbon dioxide is emitted by different materials, and how resources such as straw, flowers and wood are essential in the journey towards a greener built world with space for all living species. Furthermore, visitors can put their knowledge to test by ranking materials such as brick and cork according to their carbon footprint, adding a layer of interaction to the experience.

The exhibits, rather than being a final solution, mark an ongoing evolution that pervades the creative community as a response to the myriad of questions it faces. As viewers stand vis a vis materials that speak of endless possibilities and numbers that underline an urgent responsibility, a crucial dialogue ensues. To confront and fathom the impact of our actions on the planet can be fairly unnerving, but this acknowledgement marks the first step of a journey of reshaping standards and ‘changing our footprint.’