International researchers meet to give architecture a new point of view

KNITERVI - Delft University of Technology ETH Zürich - Photo: Mariana Popescu
Date
Category
Cooperation and Business

In April, the Royal Danish Academy opens its doors for the international conference FABRICATE 2024, which this year is chaired by Professor Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen and Professor Phil Ayres, Royal Danish Academy - Center IT and Architecture.

The focal point of the conference is how, by rethinking architecture's methods, technology and construction, we can create a new social point of view for the built environment. Originally established by the Bartlett School of Architecture, since its founding in 2011, FABRICATE has distinguished itself as a global forum for radical new possibilities for architecture, welcoming thousands of participants from practice, industry and research. A new sustainable design agenda.

The conference is based on a series of papers based on realized construction projects, thereby acknowledging the many challenges that research, practice, manufacturing, construction and industry face. Professionals from across the construction industry – architects, engineers and manufacturers – are meeting this time to discuss the necessity of a new sustainable design agenda, and are asking the questions, among other things:

  • What does the future look like for a manufacturing culture in a world where resources are increasingly challenged? 
  • Can we rethink the way we manufacture using digital tools so that we can better meet the need for new resource flows, the use of recycled materials and new renewable energy sources?
  • How do we address the ethical implications of our manufacturing culture on a global scale?
FABRICATE 2024 brings together leading researchers and professionals from all over the world to focus on the demanding challenges and opportunities that the sustainable transition presents us as architects. It is an agenda that the Royal Danish Academy has particular focus on. We are incredibly happy to bring such a reputable and ambitious conference as FABRICATE 2024 to the Royal Danish Academy and thereby contribute to debate and knowledge exchange in practice and research.
Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen and Phil Ayres

Sustainability and architecture in close connection
The program for the conference offers, among other things, on four keynote speakers, each of whom is in his own way a capacity within sustainability coupled with architecture:

  • Anders Lendager architect, creative director and founder of Lendager, which has established itself as a front-runner and one of the most influential design studios and strategic consulting companies working within sustainability and the circular economy.
  • Anna Dyson, professor at the Yale School of Architecture, and founder of the Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture, and in her work focuses on ecological and bio-based design systems.
  • Indy Johar, architect, co-founder of Architecture 00 and Dark Matter Lab and an exploratory practitioner in systems change and dark matter design of civil infrastructure, economics, governance and effects.
  • Zhu Pei is the founder of Studio Zhu Pei and dean of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. His work is grounded in a respect for materials – their history, cultural significance and tectonic properties – and an experimental artistic approach, coupled with resource awareness.

The conference takes place at the Royal Danish Academy April 4-6.