OBEL AWARD: UNPAVILION

Location: Copenhagen Harbour – Lille Langebro

Period: July

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.

ARCHITECTS:
MAST

PARTNERS:
Das Boot – Naval Engineers,
Khrons Bådebyggeri

SUPPORTED BY:
OBEL AWARD

SEE MORE:
TBC

The OBEL AWARD unPAVILION focuses on an inherent contradiction of the construction industry.

The construction industry has helped improve billions of people’s lives worldwide, created marvels of human capability, and continues to break new ground in architectural and engineering excellence.

However, the construction of our built environment is also responsible for significant CO2 emissions – both as embodied emissions for the construction and as operational emissions for the running and upkeep of our built environment.

This is a dilemma.

Tackling the CO2 emissions resulting from constructing as well as using our built environment is therefore a main concern. Fundamental changes are necessary to support the path to transitioning the economy towards a new sustainable future.

In this context, greenwashing is counterproductive. Greenwashing comes in many forms, some even unintentional, but instead of pointing fingers at current practices and products, we must encourage ambitious, cross-disciplinary ideas that do not just provide a temporary or small-scale fix nor entail an unrealistic major shift in current practices.

’The unPavilion is the story of a rescued concrete barge otherwise slated for demolition, for use during the UIA World Congress to highlight a dilemma that the construction industry must overcome. The barge will be later retrofitted to become a space of learning for architecture students.

We award potential. And we assist in the sharing of ideas and knowledge. We’d also like to inspire action, evoke thoughtfulness, and spark discussion. I believe that our un-pavilion reflects and incorporates much of what the OBEL AWARD is about.

Jesper Eis Eriksen
Head of Programme, OBEL AWARD

AFTERLIFE

The Royal Academy’s School of Architecture will use it as an educational facility and possibly construct a floating workshop

OTHER PAVILIONS

Poetic Daylight

Daylight contributes to more sustainable architecture as it is an important factor for people’s well-being and health. A space where the perceptual, aesthetic and poetic potential of daylight are experienced in a series of spaces. Architects: Royal Danish Academy & Claus Pryds Architects

03 Good Health and Well-Being

Reflections in Common

Find your reflection in the World Capital of Architecture 2023. It is a reminder of Copenhagen’s human centered approach to planning and architecture. Made by: Urgent agency and City of Copenhagen

12 Responsible Consumption and Production

The Greenhouse

Greenhouses rescued on the brink of demolition and transported to the new location at Jernbanebyen, repurposing and reconfiguring into new purposes. Architects: FORMA

11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Tower of Wind

A journey through the history of meteorology and insight into how future technology can help combat climate challenges. Architects: Anna Maria Indrio, Henning Frederiksen, Christian Fogh & Simone Aaberg Kærn.

09 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

The Raft

Observe harbor life and feel the present environment with challenges that rising sea levels bring to coastal cities. A testament to the loss of underwater biodiversity, due to global warming. Architects: Studio Coquille and Tan & Blixenkrone

13 Climate Action

(P)RECAST

Showcases innovative use of precast concrete elements, a construction system that has dominated the Danish industry since the 1950s. Is it possible to reuse building components, minimizing resource consumption? Architects: 3XN/GXN

11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

From 4 to 1 Planet

3 pieces that address how to reduce climate impact to a fourth of the current level without compromising on attractivity and liveability. Architects: ReVærk, Tegnestuen LOKAL, Leth & Gori and Rønnow Architects.

11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Bricks in Common

Bricks are an energy-consuming material to produce. Each arch being the equivalent of 1 tonne CO2, the largest arch demonstrates up 75% in Co2 emission reduction using recycled bricks and new methods. Architects: AART, Mangor & Nagel

12 Responsible Consumption and Production

Plastic Pavilion: Building Sustainable Societies

Future building materials need to be sustainable. Many of the synthetic materials (plastic) have these properties while at the same time being durable, lightweight, cheap, and easy to shape. Architects: Terroir

12 Responsible Consumption and Production

Living Places Copenhagen

Building buildings with a three times lower CO2 footprint and a first-class indoor climate. Homes should be healthy, affordable, simple, shared over time and scalable. Architects: EFFEKT

11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Feed Back

Explores the relationship between food systems and our urban infrastructure, architecture, and policy to reveal the environmental impacts of these structures, showcasing innovative techniques in food circularity that can be implemented in urban environments. Architects: Schmidt Hammer Lassen

11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Bio-centre

An interpretation of an actual development project in Uganda, the “Bio-Centre”. Through basic sanitary functions, a waste product is collected and refined into a resource that can be used in the residents’ stoves and for heating bathing water in the bio-centre. Volunteer with Architects Without Borders (Denmark)

06 Clean Water and Sanitation
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