Buildings by BIG and New Danish Icon Architecture

– Where experience, sustainability, and the future city meet

What happens when architecture is no longer only about building — but about creating experiences, identity, and narratives?

Mira M. Cordsen’s lecture takes its starting point in some of the most significant works by Bjarke Ingels Group, including the 8 House, the Cactus Towers, and the Maritime Museum, and explores how they have helped shape a new understanding of icon architecture in Denmark.

Are BIG’s buildings primarily functional solutions — or staged experiences where form, narrative, and spatial dramaturgy become just as important as usability?

At the same time, the lecture highlights a crucial shift in Danish architecture:
What does future icon architecture look like in an era where the role of the architect is changing, and where planetary boundaries set new conditions for all construction?

In Copenhagen’s new urban districts, a new architectural reality is emerging — where circular material flows, reuse, bio-based construction, and regenerative principles challenge the traditional focus on form and aesthetics.

But does this mean that aesthetics and iconic form are disappearing — or are we in the process of defining an entirely new architectural style that we do not yet have a name for?

The debate is framed through voices from the Danish architectural scene, including Bjarke Ingels Group, Lendager Group, Vandkunsten, and Søren Pihlmann, all working at the intersection of architecture, materials, and sustainability.

Are we heading toward a building stop? Is iconic architecture or “Golden age of architecture dead”?
Or have we simply not yet learned how to recognize the icons of the future?

FOR WHO: Anyone interested in Bjarke Ingels Group, contemporary architecture, experiential design, the experience economy, urban development, form, aesthetics, and culture.

FACTS:

• The lecture requires a projector.

• Duration: 1,5 hour

• Fee: 12,000 DKK (VAT exempt. For travel time over 1 hour, a mileage fee of 10 DKK per km applies.)

• Maximum participants: 50 people (additional charges apply for more than 50 participants)

LECTURE SERIES: The five presentations can be arranged as a complete lecture series for a total of 50,000 DKK.

To book, please fill out the contact form below with your request for the specific lecture. You can also call +45 51 23 74 38 or email Mira M. Cordsen at mira@experienceorestad.dk.