Reset Materials — Towards Sustainable Architecture (EN)

A new experimental group exhibition at Copenhagen Contemporary (CC) presents the building materials of tomorrow in the intersection of art and architecture. A critical comment on the way we build today, Reset Materials - Towards Sustainable Architecture explores the future of architecture in 10 compelling works created in collaboration between architects, artists and manufacturers.

The exhibition will be on view in Hall 6 from 30 June to 28 September 2023. The press viewing will take place alongside the public opening on Thursday, 29 June, from 17:00. To attend or request an interview, please contact: Ida Maj Ludvigsen, Head of Communication & PR, at ida@cphco.org.

Download press material here: 
https://copenhagencontemporary.org/en/press/


Reset Materials – Towards Sustainable Architecture
30.06-28.09.2023

Reset Materials: Towards Sustainable Architecture is CC's first architecture exhibition, which takes an experimental look at the potential of biogenic, renewable and recycled materials in the intersection of architecture and art. Behind the works are 10 interdisciplinary teams made up of architects, artists and manufacturers – a new generation of creatives joining forces to present their compelling visions of a post-carbon architecture.

Marie Laurberg, director of CC, says:
“Reset Materials is the beginning of a new orientation in Copenhagen Contemporary's program. As Denmark’s largest institution of contemporary art, we will work actively in the coming years to promote creative culture across disciplines and give our space to experimental projects seeking to shape the future of aesthetics.“

Resetting standards, values and aesthetics
Laid out like a city in the center of CC’s cavernous Hall 6, Reset Materialsinvites the public into a landscape of surprising material manifestations made of newly developed or rediscovered locally available materials. From recycled plastics and silicon to biogenic materials such as mycelium, nettle, clay and hemp. Over the past year, the creative teams have sourced, cultivated, recycled, deconstructed and recomposed the materials in mills, laboratories and workshops. In the exhibition, this culminates in a series of tactile fragments poised between art, design and architecture, activating the space, light and visitors and pointing to new possibilities for constructing our physical surroundings.

The warmth of floating panels of rammed earth meets the crisp transparency of recycled medical equipment. The roughness of hemp, lime and water sprayed on a surface meets the softness of an eelgrass seat and the smooth reflective surface of a silicon glazed tile. The material fragments at the core of the exhibit are meant to engage all senses and can be experienced as is. To get more insight into the thoughts behind the works, visitors can meet the teams behind the materials in short video interviews.

In addition, two large common tables hold an archive of samples, source materials and a research library, giving visitors the opportunity to touch and study each material and dive further into the research process.

Guest curator and architect Chrissie Muhr calls it “a moment of transition”, adding:
“Facing the complexity of our times, this unique exhibition allows us to step into and even inhabit a potential future at this very moment. A future driven forward through the collaboration of the next generation of recognized Danish architects, artists, designers and manufacturers. A reset of standards, values and aesthetics that will become your future material memory.”

Material standards – now and in the future
Reset Materials: Towards Sustainable Architecture unfolds at different scales, entangling the dimensions of research, both artistic and scientific. It is, above all, a critical comment on the way we source and build our environments, outside the exhibition spaces, with little or no regard for our planetary boundaries.

The remodelled industrial spaces at CC set a robust stage for addressing the crucial need to transform our relationships with materials. The exhibition design bridges the gap between current and future standards by using standard contemporary materials, like plywood sheets or a façade membrane, to present future standard materials and their implementation. Circular in approach, the exhibition design aims to consume no materials for the exhibition itself. Instead, it employs existing building materials borrowed from suppliers, and because they remain intact, they can be reused for their original purposes after the show is over. Any bespoke parts have been developed to be reapplied.

Publication and perspective
To document and continue the project, a publication will be published by Arkitektens Forlag by the end of the exhibition.

Partnerships
The 10 teams taking part in Reset Materials were selected through an open call initiated by Dreyers Fond in May 2022, receiving a one-year grant for the project under the title of #MATERIALER. The results are presented for the first time in the exhibition Reset Materials: Towards Sustainable Architecture.

The exhibition is curated in collaboration with guest curator and architect Chrissie Muhr and was created in partnership between CC and the Danish Association of Architects (Arkitektforeningen). The exhibition is supported by Dreyers Fond.

The exhibition design is by Archival Studies. The graphic design of the exhibition and the forthcoming publication is by Studio Atlant.

The presented films are commissioned by Dreyers Fond and produced by Emilie Koefoed, Claus Lillevang and Sebastian Kerdil.

Participating Teams

Tree
Kim Lenschow and Anders Wilhelmsen (architect, Office Kim Lenschow,)
Bonnie Hvillum (artist, Natural Material Studio)
Hans Peter Dinesen (producer, Dinesen)

Plastics
Vicki Thake (architect)
Torben Eskerod (photographer)
Grethe Wittrock (textile artist)

Earth
Simeon Østerlund Bamford and Mathias Ørum Nørgård (architects, ReVærk)
Kasper Kjeldgaard (artist)

Hempcrete
Søren Thirup Pihlmann and Jakob Rabe Petersen (pihlmann architects)
Rhoda Ting and Mikkel Dahlin Bojesen (artists, Studio ThinkingHand)
Christian Vædele-Larson (producer, HempCrete.dk ApS)

Nettle, Hemp, Flax & Eel Grass
Frans Drewniak (architect)
Sara Martinsen (artist)

Silicon
Anders Lendager, Nikolaj Callisen Friis,
Daga Karlsson, Andreas Berg Bonnén (architects and consultants, Lendager)
Honey Biba Beckerlee (artist)
Én jord (producer)
Eco Silicate (producer)

Monoblock
Desislava Lynge and Michael Lynge (architects, Lynge Lynge Arkitekter)
Jakob Steen (artist)
Mikael Martlev (master mason)
Xella (manufacturer)

Straw
Anne Beim, Line Kjær Frederiksen and Lykke Arnfred (CINARK – Centre for Industrialised Architecture, Royal Danish Academy)
Tove Storch (artist)
Laura Feline Ebbesen (thatcher)
Thomas Gerner (thatcher, Straatagets Kontor)
DBI – The Danish Institute of Fire and Security Technology

Biocement
Lasse Lind, Aleksander Kongshaug (architects, GXN/3XN)
Silas lnoue (artist)
Esben Mølgaard (producer, IBF)
Jan Vandesande, Troy Hottle (producer, Biomason)

Mycelium
lsak Worre Foged (architect, Royal Danish Academy)
Jon Strunge and Jørgen Strunge (producer, Naturpladen ApS)
Jonas Aarsø (architects, nikolova/aarsø)
Magnus Reffs Kramhøft (architect, Henning Larsen Architects)

For more information about the exhibition:
Jannie Haagemann, Head of Exhibitions & Senior Curator
jannie@cphco.org
+45 3146 3003

Press contact:
Ida Maj Ludvigsen, Head of PR & Communication
ida@cphco.org
+45 6021 9321

Copenhagen Contemporary er i 2023 støttet af:
Augustinusfonden, Bikubenfonden, Knud Højgaards Fond, Det Obelske Familiefond,
Beckett-Fonden, Kulturministeriet, Københavns Kommune, Statens Kunstfond,
Minister Erna Hamiltons Legat, Carlsbergs Mindelegat for Brygger J.C. Jacobsen,
Goethe-Institut Dänemark, Refshaleøens Ejendomsselskab