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Join the Danish Architecture Center as we chat with some of the world's leading architects, designers, planners, and engineers about their work and ideas. Let's Talk Architecture introduces you to the creative and innovative minds behind the future of our buildings and cities. Let's Talk Architecture introduces you to the creative and innovative minds behind the future of our buildings and cities. Get to know the creative and innovative minds that shapes Danish architecture. Author and journalist, Michael Booth, is not an architect, but he is curious about cities, and how they are built. In this podcast he ventures out into the city with architects, planners, and urban developers, while he asks them about the agendas, that shapes their projects and our built environment. They talk about everything from the aesthetics of the climate change, modernist masterpieces, extensive retail planning, rethinking of materials, sensuous architecture, transformation of existing buildings, the shaping of new architects, and much much more. Generous funding is provided by Realdania and the Danish Industry Foundation. Learn more at dac.dk/en/podcast

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BLOX Unpacked

2026/01/29

When BLOX opened in 2018, it divided opinion. Designed by OMA as the home of the Danish Architecture Center, the building was unlike anything Copenhagen had seen before, bold, complex and unapologetically different. In this episode, host Michael Booth is joined by DAC CEO Kent Martinussen for a guided tour of BLOX, as the centre prepares an anniversary exhibition marking 40 years of DAC. Together they unpack the story behind the building: the unusual architect selection process, Rem Koolhaas' vision of architecture as urban infrastructure, and the idea of BLOX as a city within a city. Moving from harbour-level plazas to dramatic interior spaces and rooftop terraces, the conversation explores how BLOX has evolved from controversy to everyday use, a flexible, lived-in building where culture, work and city life intersect. Guest: Kent Martinussen, CEO, Danish Architecture Center Host: Michael Booth Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios.

Can Architecture Heal Us?

2025/12/25

Timber instead of tiles, curiosity instead of corridors, and a 15-metre-high atrium designed to make people feel safer, healthier and more connected. Copenhagen's Centre for Health proposes a new typology for public healthcare architecture. In this episode, Michael Booth meets architect Dorte Mandrup, widely regarded as one of Denmark's greatest living architects, to explore how a complex and often contradictory brief — openness and privacy, care and community — was translated into a warm, tactile and quietly radical public building. Together they discuss the centre's boomerang-shaped footprint, full timber construction and soaring atrium, and how architecture can gently nudge behaviour, foster wellbeing and create spaces that feel inclusive without feeling exposed. Guest: Dorte Mandrup, Arkitekt, Dorte Mandrup A/S Host: Michael Booth Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios.

Building a Mega-Museum

2025/11/27

Eighteen years, a 14-metre-deep crater, a rebuilt brick façade, and a glass dome set to redefine Copenhagen's skyline Denmark's new Natural History Museum is almost ready. In this episode, Michael Booth meets architect Claus Pryds, who was barely out of architecture school when he unexpectedly won the competition for the country's next great museum. What followed was a marathon of design, engineering and sheer perseverance that stretched across nearly two decades. Michael and Claus dive into the wild story behind the museum: the setbacks, the breakthroughs, the impossible holes in the ground — and the thrill of watching a once-in-a-lifetime project finally rise to the surface. Opening in 2027, the museum will feature new worlds dedicated to Danish nature and Greenland and rumoured to have everything from dinosaurs to a Blue Whale skeleton. Guest: Claus Pryds Host: Michael Booth Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios.

Why biodiversity Matters and how to get more

2025/10/29

Can architecture help us create a future where both humans and nature can thrive? And is it possible to truly strengthen biodiversity in big cities – or are we just creating small, isolated pockets of green? In this episode, Michael Booth meets ecologist, biodiversity developer and founder of Oiko, Kristine Kjørup Rasmussen. Together they explore Copenhagen's Nordhavn district – from concrete cityscapes to wild wastelands – to see how biodiversity can be measured, protected, and even enhanced in the midst of urban development. Guest: Kristine Kjørup Rasmussen, ecologist and founder of Oiko Host: Michael Booth Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios.

How to build a megaproject: The Fermern Belt Link

2025/09/25

What defines a megaproject? And why do they so often go over both budget and schedule? Denmark has earned a reputation for successfully completing large-scale construction projects – whether they are bridges, tunnels, land reclamation or offshore wind farms. The latest Danish megaproject is the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link, a record-breaking 18-kilometer tunnel currently being placed on the seabed from the island of Lolland to Northern Germany. In this episode, Michael Booth joins Professor Christian Langhoff Thuesen of Denmark's Technical University on a visit to the construction site of the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link. Together they explore the impressive scale of the project and discuss the future of megaprojects in light of growing sustainability demands. Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios.

Can design strengthen community?

2025/08/28

Right now, 150 new community spaces are being built across Denmark – primarily using recycled materials – as part of an extraordinary project called Vores Sted (Our Place). Funded by the Danish philanthropic association Realdania, the project aims to reinvent the community gathering place for the 21st century. The community spaces, designed as four distinct types of pavilions, are the result of a collaboration between Danish architectural firms ReVærk, Cobe, Archival Studies, pihlmann architects, Rumgehør og Studio XYZ. In this episode our host Michael Booth, takes a trip to the southern Jutland town of Tønder with ReVærk's founding partner, Simeon Østerlund Bamford, to visit one of the new pavilions - and to discover the surprising source of the materials used to build it. Guest: Simeon Østerlund Bamford, Partner ReVærk Host: Michael Booth Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios.

Designing for presence in a digital age

2025/07/31

Has presence become a luxury in the digital age? And do we lose contact with the world around us when so much of our lives unfold in front of a screen? In this episode of Let's Talk Architecture host Michael Booth meets Nikoline Dyrup, architect and founding partner of Danish architecture and design studio, Spacon. Together they visit the studio's newly opened exhibition at DAC, Meet Me Here, for a conversation about how design and architecture can shape the ways we connect. Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios.

BIG HQ: When architects design for themselves

2025/06/26

Bjarke Ingels Group – BIG – is one of Denmark's most internationally acclaimed architecture studios, with high-profile projects across the globe. Not long ago, the firm moved into its own seven-story raw concrete-and-glass headquarters, prominently located on the harbour in Copenhagen's Nordhavn district. But what happens when a firm like BIG gets the chance to design its own headquarters? What role did sustainability play in the process, and what can the new BIG HQ tell us about the company behind the name? Join us as founder of BIG, Bjarke Ingels, invites host Michael Booth on an exclusive tour of BIG HQ and shares the thinking behind the building's design – and what it's like to be both architect and client. Let's Talk Architecture is a Danish Architecture Center podcast. Sound edits by Munck Studios.

Make Odense great again

2025/05/29

If you want to see the impact that bold, brave, progressive urban planning can have on a city, go visit Odense, Denmark's third largest city. Odense has gone from being a city divided into halves by a four-lane main road, to one built on a human scale which is ready for the challenges of the 21st century. But how have they banished cars, how did the locals react, and what role has culture played in the transformation of Hans Christian Andersen's birthplace? These are some of the questions host Michael Booth asks in this episode, as he visits the city with Marianne Tonim Nielsen, an architect who has worked in the municipality there for 29 years and has closely followed the development of Odense. Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios.

A New Park is Born

2025/05/12

It's not every day a new park opens in the centre of a capital city, and this one is extra special. Copenhagen's new Opera Park is not just a nice place to relax in the shadow of the opera house. It represents a radical departure from the type of parks found elsewhere in the city: this harbourfront garden is a place for the contemplation of nature, of trees and plants from around the world, of water, and of sky. It's blessedly free from programming - there are no cycle paths, no running tracks, no outdoor gyms and no playgrounds. For this episode we are lucky enough to be joined by its designer, Maj Wiwe, landscape director at Cobe. She explains the original idea behind the park, but also the extraordinary technical challenges involved in constructing a mature garden with 10 metre-high trees and a cafe. On top of a multi-storey car park. Which is buried underground. On reclaimed land. In the harbour. You see what we mean by challenges?

How to make renovation the new norm

2025/03/31

What will it take to break the harmful cycle of demolition and new construction, when it's still cheaper to build from scratch than to transform our existing buildings? HouseEurope! is a European Citizen Initiative, aimed at making renovation the new norm in Europe. If the initiative can gather a million signatures, they can force a debate in the European Parliament and bring transformation and renovation to the top of the agenda. Enlai Hooi, Head of Innovation at Schmidt Hammer Lassen, is one of the Danish national organising members of HouseEurope. In this episode he explains why he has become such a strong advocate for adapting and transforming existing buildings - even the ones no one likes. Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios.

New policy, better cities?

2025/02/26

What role does architecture policy play in shaping our cities and everyday lives? With a white paper on the future of architecture and planning in Denmark about to be published, we explore how policy can address major challenges—from climate change to urban revitalization. Join host Michael Booth as he speaks with Kent Martinussen, CEO of Danish Architecture Center and a member of the expert committee tasked by the Ministry of Culture with drafting the policy, and Jesper Pagh, Chief Architect of Horsens Municipality, about the past, present, and future of architecture as a tool for societal change. Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios.

Designing a 21st century church

2025/01/23

The Danes are among the least religious people in the world, with only 2.4% attending church weekly. So why are new churches still being built? And what does it take to design a religious space that meets the needs of the 21st century? In this episode of Let's Talk Architecture, host Michael Booth visits the striking Trekroner Church, completed in 2019 by Rørbæk og Møller Arkitekter. Booth speaks with architects Nicolai Overgaard and Irina Maksimovich about this innovative building, designed not just for worship, but also for contemplation and community. Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios.

How to design for rising sea levels

2024/12/12

The Danish harbour town of Svendborg, like many cities, has faced severe storm surges and pluvial flooding in recent years. How can towns like Svendborg adapt to the increasing threat of flooding caused by climate change? And could learning to live with regular, controlled flooding – rather than fighting it – be the answer? This is part two of Let's Talk Architecture's deep dive into how Danish architects and planners are addressing the water-related challenges of climate change. In this episode, host Michael Booth speaks with architect Anna Als Nielsen from Svendborg Municipality about the town's innovative response. Instead of investing in costly sea walls and flood barriers, Svendborg is embracing a new approach: allowing controlled flooding in specific areas and transforming them into attractive recreational spaces. Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios.

How cloudbursts define the future of our cities

2024/11/14

Catastrophic floods in recent years have highlighted the urgent water-related impacts of climate change, pushing it to the top of the global agenda. While much attention has been paid to rising temperatures, flooding poses an immediate and critical threat to millions worldwide. So, how do we design urban spaces to handle increasing volumes of water? Can we learn to work with nature rather than against it, and even enhance urban life in the process? In this episode of Let's Talk Architecture, host Michael Booth meets Rikke Juul Gram, creative director and partner at the Danish landscape architecture firm Schønherr. Together, they visit Schønherr's recent project in Copenhagen, Karens Minde Aksen - a space designed not only to manage floodwaters but also to serve as a beautiful, functional community area. Rikke shares her insights into why embracing water could be the key to building resilient, sustainable cities. Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center, with sound edits by Munck Studios.