Daylight gives us an understanding of where we are in the world and of the spaces, we find ourselves in every day. The ‘Poetic Daylight’ pavilion, unfolds the spatial qualities of daylight, where the perceptual, aesthetic and poetic potential of daylight can be experienced in a series of spaces.
The Greenhouse is a space inviting entrepreneurs, visitors and the local community to reconnect with nature and learn the importance of nurturing ecosystems for current and future generations. The pavilion is a lighthouse project, highlighting the need and potential of green, educational and regenerative spaces in the hearts of our cities and a clubhouse-space to meet and explore regenerative futures for our cities in the face of the climate crisis.
ARCHITECTS:
FORMA
PARTNERS:
Sara Martinsen
Banegaarden
re:arc institute
SEE MORE:
https://www.forma-studio.dk/vaeksthuset
The new event- and educational space is built around the transformation of the 100-year-old propagation greenhouses from the Copenhagen Botanical Gardens. The greenhouses were rescued on the brink of demolition and transported to the new location at Jernbanebyen.
The pavilion is meant to include vital learning spaces for children and adults, inspiring and passing down climate focused knowledge of reductional, regenerative and resilient practices.
The greenhouses aspire to become a desired location for sustainability events and initiatives, helping people and organizations to learn and grow sustainably, together.
The partnership consist of four different partners from completely different fields, working from the same ethos and mission driven values: to help create a more sustainable future.
All four work around the idea that the architecture and materials of the future are already here – they are just disguised as different buildings or stored in another configuration. In short – the buildings of the future will be built from existing buildings and material recovered from other projects.
“We need to design and build so the projects of today can transform and adapt over time, long after we are gone. Just like we are doing now. To realize a project like Væksthuset, requires us to understand traditional craftmanship, materials and vernacular.
Therefore, a large part of our pavilion starts from the repurposing of another discarded building and the design challenges this creates, to reconfigure this into new purpose and program and to recontextualize this for a new context.”

Mikkel Bøgh
Arkitekt MAA




AFTERLIFE
The temporary idea of a pavilion has been discarded in favor of a permanent innovation and educational space, hopefully creating impact among communities, in business and for our environment
During and after serving as pavilion for UIA related events, the Greenhouse will become the home of Banegaarden’s ‘Green-Growth Academy’ which is a green-innovation cluster created to help companies with sustainable development through concrete initiatives, innovation, and concept development
OTHER PAVILIONS
Reflections in Common
Architecture is only given meaning once we interact with it. The concept of the Pavilion ‘Reflections in Common’ is materialised in the design, which allows people to look at themselves against the backdrop of the city.
OBEL AWARD: unPAVILION
The unPAVILION is a statement piece – that prompts curiosity, debate, and reflection on our contemporary and future uses of resources. It also points to the counterproductive nature of greenwashing.
Tower of Wind
A monument celebrating sustainable architecture, in which the public can experience a journey through the history of meteorology.
The Raft
A sensory structure landing on one of Copenhagen canal’s floating platforms, aiming at offering visitors a direct and playful sensorial experience with the water.
(P)RECAST
Investigating the role of precast concrete in sustainable equitable urban development. Is it possible to reuse the building components of these buildings in new construction, minimizing resource consumption?
From 4 to 1 Planet
How do we reduce climate impact from residential buildings to a fourth of the current level without compromising on attractivity and liveability?
Find three different answers to this question in our three pavilions, developed by next generations architects.
Bricks in Common
The brick pavilion ‘Bricks in Common’ brings our attention to this double bind: brick has a potentially long lifespan – it is, however, also a very energy-consuming material to produce. If we want brick to play a larger part of the sustainable development, we need further innovation, development, and more design for disassembly.
Plastic Pavilion: Building Sustainable Societies
Future building materials need to be sustainable, meaning that they are reusable or recyclable, and preferably made from recycled content. Many of the synthetic materials, plastic, and other polymers have these properties while at the same time being durable, lightweight, cheap, and easy to shape.
Living Places Copenhagen
Living Places Copenhagen – the first seven prototypes of the concept, show how we can develop sustainable buildings with a three times lower CO2 footprint and a first-class indoor climate. The concept holds the lowest CO2 emissions in Denmark, demonstrating that we do not have to wait for future technology to build more sustainably
Feed Back
Different lenses on food systems. The pavilion uses virtual spatial design to guide the audience through an exhibition that explores the content of the publication in a gallery-like experience. Users take part of the exhibit space by using their own mobile devices through virtual reality features.
Bio-centre
Architects Without Border’s pavilion is an interpretation of one of their actual development projects, the “Bio-Centre”. Through basic sanitary functions, a bio-center provides crucial services in a densely packed slum – while creating a social focal point.