International Lecture Series: Anna Heringer

Open lecture by the architect Anna Heringer. The lecture is part of the ‘International Lecture Series’ at the Royal Danish Academy where prominent international architects are invited to present their views on significant topics in architecture.

‘I see myself as an architect but also as a social worker and as an activist.’

Architect Anna Heringer considers architecture a tool to improve lives. The vision and motivation for her work is to explore and use architecture as a medium to strengthen cultural and individual confidence,to support local economies and to foster the ecological balance. Architecture, according to Anna Heringer, must bring meaning to people while also adding to a healthy planet and to social justice; ‘I think there is a lot of good-looking architecture around, but I think that good-looking architecture is not enough.’

Central to this vision is also her use of natural building materials and the ambition to create decompostable buildings. Her award-winning project Anandaloy, a geometrically complicated design, was built primarily from mud and engaged users and clients in the construction process, successfully merging local knowhow with architectural expertise, ‘I don’t want to leave waste behind. We can never foresee what the coming generations need – but what I really want to remain is the knowhow.’

The lecture will explore Anna Heringer’s practice and the principles on sustainability informing it. Her keynote will be followed by a conversation with Professor Anne Beim (CINARK) and questions from the audience.

About Anna Heringer
Anna Heringer heads her own studio, Architecture Anne Heringer. She is honorary professor of the UNESCO Chair of Earthen Architecture, Building Cultures, and Sustainable Development and lectures worldwide. She has been visiting professor at Harvard, ETH Zurich, TU Munich and other universities. She has received numerous honors: the OBEL Award 2020, the AR Emerging Architecture Award, the Loeb Fellowships at Harvard’s GSD and a RIBA International Fellowship. Her work has been presented at MoMA New York, the V&A in London and at the Venice Biennale, among other places.

The lecture will be recorded. 

About the International Lecture Series
The lecture series forms part of the Academy’s engagement in the UIA2023CPH World Congress which will be hosted in Copenhagen in July 2023. The world congress has dedicated its programme to articulate the profound agency architecture has in shaping our societies; securing human and non-human wellbeing, shaping behavior and innovating practice to enable a sustainable, equitable and inclusive future for all.The Royal Danish Academy is leading the Science Track of the World Congress, fostering new research and knowledge exchanges across the breadth of architectural research and practice with the aim to provoke new perspectives and concrete actions.