Danish architect Dorte Mandrup founded her studio in 1999, eight years after graduating from Aarhus School of Architecture. Studies in both sculpture and natural sciences have influenced her approach, which has always been ‘hands-on’, materialising in deep, contextual analysis and explorative prototyping. Her Copenhagen-based studio employs an artistic, humanistic, and scientific approach to create generous designs that are pushing the boundaries of form and materiality. In close interaction with her team, Dorte Mandrup is solving complex problems and orchestrating designs that are playful, original, and poetic.
She is internationally recognised for creating architecture in synergy with the context, enhancing the awareness and the experience of the place. In recent years this has distinguished her in the architectural field with extraordinary projects like The Whale 300 kilometres North of the Arctic Circle in Norway, the Exile Museum at Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin and the Icefjord Centre, slightly levitating over the Greenlandic wilderness The passion and experience working in sensitive contexts has resulted in winning designs for public buildings in five UNESCO World Heritage Site.
As a consistent critic, Dorte Mandrup is well known for her commitment to the development of the architectural practice. She headlined the curated international exhibition at La Biennale de Venezia in 2018, chaired the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award in 2019, is Vice Chairman of the board of Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, member of the architecture section in Akademi der Künste, Honorary Professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Architecture, Design and Conservation and holds frequent visiting professorships – now at the renowned Accademia de Architettura de Mendrisio in Switzerland.