Living Better Lives: Vandkunsten at DAC
Living Better Lives in 2021 showed how Vandkunsten links sustainable housing with quality of life. Built like a small “village” with a greenhouse, common house and playground, the exhibition featured cases such as Fællesbyg Køge Kyst, BBB Kvistgård and Tinggården in Herfølge.
How can we live more sustainably, without losing quality of life? Can architecture help us to live better?
For more than 50 years, architecture firm Vandkunsten has shown us how we can live better and more sustainably together – and its values are more relevant than ever. The exhibition that had been developed in collaboration with Vandkunsten and Utzon Center in Aalborg could be experienced in Danish Architecture Center.
Explore the exhibition
Discover a micro home
In the exhibition you could experience an entire house of 37 square meters. Furnished exactly as Vandkunsten believes we should live and ready for occupancy with room for a family of four people. The exhibition was built as a village with a greenhouse, common house and playground. It was a small community and a city that lived. Here you could get an insight into the future with Vandkunsten.
Photo: Christian Hoyer
Photo: Christian Hoyer 
Beauty in the imperfect
The exhibition Living Better Lives was not about the past. Its focal point was our future. For your home can help save the planet. Houses do not have to be perfect, because there is a lot of beauty to be found in what is used. In scratches, cracks and grease stains. The housing of the future must also be smaller, because large houses are bad for the climate and a waste of resources.
Photo: Christian Hoyer
Photo: Andreas Omvik Self-building residents
Community self-builds are another approach to building. Here, the future residents take responsibility for the development of their communities; the homes are adapted to the individual but with focus on community.
One example is Fællesbyg Køge Kyst – one of Vandkunsten’s newer projects – which you could explore at the exhibition.
Read more about Fællesbyg Køge Kyst
Photo: Andreas Omvik Better affordable housing
Vandkunsten created BBB Kvistgård with a focus on robust materials and pre-fabricated elements, offering a housing option with a significantly lower rent without compromising on architectural quality.
Photo: Melissa Ørnstrup Communal eating and flexibilty
With its modular design, Tinggården in Herfølge, situated south of Copenhagen, became the first project realized by Vandkunsten in 1978. Flexible walls make it possible to add rooms as the need for a larger home arises.
Examples
Visit DAC MagazineExhibitions Today
See Our Current Exhibitions
What was Living Better Lives?
Living Better Lives was an exhibition at DAC about how to live more sustainably without losing quality of life, developed in collaboration with Vandkunsten and Utzon Center in Aalborg.
When did the exhibition take place?
The exhibition ran from 20 Nov 2021 to 18 Apr 2022.
What was the exhibition’s central example?
The exhibition included a move-in-ready 37 m² house, laid out according to Vandkunsten’s ideas, designed for a family of four.
How was the exhibition space organised?
The exhibition was organised as a “village” with a greenhouse, a common house and a playground.
Which specific Vandkunsten projects could visitors explore?
You could explore Fællesbyg Køge Kyst, BBB Kvistgård and Tinggården in Herfølge (Vandkunsten’s first realised project, 1978).
What should I know if I only read one thing?
Living Better Lives (20 Nov 2021–18 Apr 2022) presented Vandkunsten’s approach to smaller, robust and community-oriented housing, anchored by a 37 m² home example.