The official Danish contribution to the 12. International Architecture Exhibition promotes the concept of the “thinking city,” posing urban questions and presenting the answers reached in Copenhagen.

In the course of the past twenty years, Copenhagen has been a living lab of sustainable urban development. Danish and international architects, urban planners, investors, politicians, and the general public have explored the city’s potential with determination, courage and curiosity to experiment with different strategies.

As a result Copenhagen has changed radically – not only in its architecture but also in the way we use and live in the city. New connections with the Metro and bicycle routes have been implemented, new urban spaces and new public buildings created, and new ways of living, working, going to school and spending leisure time emerged. Each of these provides new suggestions in regard to how the urban challenges of cities can be met with architectonic answers.

Copenhagen Answers
In the Danish pavilion the audience is invited to join the Copenhagen city lab, and explore questions and answers about how a livable city is created. In four sections, the exhibition ”Q&A: Urban Questions _ Copenhagen Answers” explores the different aspects of this distinctive Danish model of sustainable urban development:

Catwalk: The presentation of a number of prestigious projects that Danish and international star archi-tects have created in Copenhagen over the last decade.

Copenhagen 1947-2047: From Fingerplan City to Ring City Project – 100 Years of Visions: The story of how greater Copenhagen in modern times has developed, taking its starting point in the famous Fingerplan of 1947, and continues to develop visions for the future.

Three Sustainable Urban Labs: The presentation of three large scale urban development areas in Copenhagen, each with very different terms and conditions: Ørestad, Carlsberg and Nordhavnen.

Copenhagen Answers: An interactive presentation of the experiences gained in Copenhagen in the last 10 years, which will also give the audience the opportunity to create their own e-magazines with digital catalogues of Copenhagen.

Inspiration for going to Copenhagen
With the exhibition ”Q&A: Urban Questions _ Copenhagen Answers”, the Danish Architecture Centre wishes to give the audience, architects, urban planners, investors, politicians and the audience of the Biennale an insight into one of the most interesting city labs for modern sustainable urban development: the city of Copenhagen. We wish to inspire to go to Copenhagen and experience the city firsthand, bringing the good examples as possible inspiration back home with them.

The official Danish contribution to the 12. International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia is sponsored by: The Danish Ministry of Culture, Realdania, The Danish Arts Foundation, CPH City & Port Development, Carlsberg, Copenhagen X.