Past Exhibitions

DAC is home to three light installations during Copenhagen Light Festival 2026. When the city lights up this February, DAC becomes a key destination. Experience the sweeping wings of a giant bird, step into a house where thousands of tiny holes and swirling fog create a magical effect or get immersed in an organic world of shifting blue forms.

DAC er centrum for hele tre værker, når Copenhagen Light Festival igen lyser byen op i februar 2026. Oplev vingeslaget af en kæmpe fugl, gå ind i et hus hvor tusindvis af bittesmå huller og røg skaber en magisk effekt eller lad dig opsluge af organiske, blå former. 

Has presence become a luxury in the digital age? The exhibition Meet Me Here explores how architecture and design don’t just create backdrops – but actively shape the ways we connect. With one another, with ourselves, and with the world around us.

Under the headline Build of Site, the Danish contribution to the19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2025 explores how rethinking and reusing existing buildings and resources can address some of architecture’s most pressing challenges.

Everything we build has value – even after it has been used. How can we rediscover the beauty of reuse and create a future where used materials gain new life and circular resources take on new value? How can reuse become part of architecture’s aesthetic? What does architecture look like if we stop throwing things away?

How will we live in 2050? ran from 26 Feb to 11 Jun 2025 as a free screening in DAC Passage, showing four short films by Hahn Lavsen, Atelier for Byers Rum, Os Arkitekter and DETBLÅ outlining visions for Denmark in 2050.

The exhibition Nanna Ditzel: Breaking Free in 2025 presented Danish design pioneer Nanna Ditzel and her iconic works that challenged static seating and invited new ways of moving and being together.

The exhibition Water Is Coming in 2024 explored water, people and nature through a sensory exhibition universe—combining knowledge, visions and practical solutions for cities adapting to rising water levels.

The exhibition Danish Design Award 2024 in 2024 presented seven winning projects that showed how design can drive positive change for people and the planet—from products to business models and societal solutions.

The exhibition True Nature in 2024 presented 25 black-and-white landscape photographs by artist and architect Christina Capetillo, focusing on human-made landscapes—from fire ponds and storage terrains to coastal protection and replacement nature.

The exhibition Teenage Dreams in 2024 invited reflection on the teenage bedroom as a refuge, a study space and a technological setting for identity and social life. Three installations explored wellbeing, materials and the boundary between private and public.

Capture Your City 2024: New Beauty in 2024 was a free outdoor photo exhibition, encouraging visitors to find beauty in patina and “wild” nature. The exhibition was shown at Bryghuspladsen outside DAC and also in Kalundborg, Herlev and Taastrup.

The exhibition Aware in 2024 presented the architecture firm 3XN/GXN’s exploration of the relationship between body and space—how spatial atmospheres and architectural behaviour principles shape emotions, actions and quality of life.

Architecture from a child’s perspective in 2024 was a mini exhibition for children aged 2–10, based on DAC’s ArkitekTUR in kindergarten project. You could find the mini exhibition by following the architect’s footprints or the yellow paw prints from “the yellow cat”. The exhibition supported children’s and educators’ ways of noticing and talking about their surroundings.

Mies van der Rohe Awards in 2024 was as a small photo exhibition featuring finalists and winning works recognised by the EUmies Awards 2022 jury—seven projects across Europe, including Barcelona, Cornellà de Llobregat, London, Turin, Hasselt, Berlin and Paris.

The exhibition Changing our Footprint in 2023 showed how Henning Larsen worked with new materials, methods and research to reduce construction’s carbon footprint and build on the planet’s terms.

The exhibition Copenhagen in Common in 2023 explored how architecture shapes community in Copenhagen. It zoomed in on places where community thrives, asking Copenhageners, newcomers, commuters and tourists where they felt at home.

The exhibition Coastal Imaginaries was Denmark’s contribution to the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023, presenting nature-based design solutions for sea-level rise and storm surges, curated by Josephine Michau in collaboration with Schønherr.

What a Waste in 2023 focused on “New Waste”—unused surplus materials from industry. The exhibition presented solutions by companies that use these materials in their supply chains instead of newly produced materials.

The exhibition Tales of the City in 2023 offered an audio-led introduction to 14 architectural works by WERK, narrated with writer and public commentator Knud Romer, with communities as the central theme.

Neutrino Ensemble in 2023 was a free video installation on LED screens in DAC Passage facing the harbour. The film by Cecilia Bengolea translated neutrino motion into choreography and was made with astrophysicists from DARK at the Niels Bohr Institute.

Pavilions in the World Capital of Architecture 2023: Sustainable Development Goals by BLOX presented experimental installations across the city that each related to one or more of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals—both as public seating/urban spaces and as contributions to sustainability debate.

The photo exhibition Capture Your City 2023: No filter in 2023 presented 56 jury-selected photos from 5,075 submissions. The theme asked photographers to avoid polishing the city and instead find beauty in the raw, worn and unvarnished.

The exhibition The Copenhagen of Dreams in 2023 presented a selection of projects for a Copenhagen that could have been—but never was—based on Berlingske’s architecture critic Holger Dahl’s book Dreaming Copenhagen.

Our Architecture in 2022 explored 100 years of Danish welfare architecture through Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects. The exhibition went behind the scenes of projects such as VEGA, Copenhagen Airport and DR Byen, alongside newer works including New North Zealand Hospital, Nordø and LIFE.

Design Lounge in 2021 told the story of Danish design as architecture at the smallest scale—from city planning to cutlery. The exhibition showed Denmark’s tradition of linking space and furniture, with highlights from Danish design history from the modern “golden age” to current tendencies, including Arne Jacobsen and Kaare Klint.

Copenhagen by Heart in 2021 collected Copenhageners’ stories about the city—love stories about Copenhagen, filled with romance and broken hearts.

A Space Saga in 2022 presented LUNARK—a moon habitat developed by SAGA Space Architects and tested during a 60-day mission in North Greenland (2020)—exploring isolation, wellbeing and design for extreme conditions.

Nature’s Party in 2022 featured four collages and four sound works by Open Platform that invited visitors into a green utopia in 2070 and reflected on architecture’s role in the climate crisis.

Women in Architecture in 2022 presented untold stories of women’s roles in architecture—from everyday building culture to contemporary voices—framed by Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own”.

Capture Your City 2022: Soul of the City in 2022 presented 56 jury-selected photos from the 7th annual competition, curated from 5,300+ submissions exploring what makes a city feel distinctive—through atmosphere, buildings and the meeting of old and new.

SAS Royal Hotel – A Love Story in 2021 was a pop-up exhibition in DAC Passage exploring Arne Jacobsen’s total design for the SAS Royal Hotel (now Radisson Collection Royal Hotel), from architecture down to details. The exhibition was free.

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.

Understanding the Impact of Architecture in 2021 presented artist John Kørner’s lithograph series on how architecture affects us—through glass and concrete, scale, control and our relationship with nature.

The Needle in the Haystack in 2021 offered a close look at designer Cecilie Manz’s design process. The exhibition featured a “treasure cabinet” of references, inspirational objects and material samples, with a focus on detail and colour work. It was shown at DAC in connection with Cecilie Manz’s 2021 Honour Award and opened alongside 3daysofdesign.

Interspecies Assembly by SUPERFLEX for ART 2030 was shown in 2021 outside DAC in BLOX as a publicly accessible, two-part artwork: the interactive video installation Vertical Migration in DAC Passage and pink limestone sculptures on Bryghuspladsen.

Con-nect-ed-ness in 2021 was Denmark’s contribution to the Venice Architecture Biennale, presenting a sensory experience of water and connectedness by Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects with curator Marianne Krogh.

Hermès in the Making in Copenhagen ran from 15 to 24 Oct 2021, bringing visitors close to 11 artisans demonstrating how Hermès works with leather, silk and precious metals—framed around durability, repairability and the passing on of know-how.

Backstage in 2021 offered a look behind everyday architecture through cases, 1:1 installations, models, films and interactive elements—showing the choices, values and consequences behind what we see on the surface.

Capture Your City 2021: A city for Everyone in 2021 presented 55 jury-selected photos from the competition. The show stayed at Bryghuspladsen outside BLOX for the full period and was also presented at libraries nationwide, including digital editions.

The Danish exhibition at Milan Design Week in 2021 could be seen at the Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci, focusing on circular economy, reuse and climate solutions with two installations curated by Lendager Group.

Hello Denmark in 2020 celebrated Danish architecture and design through everyday life. The exhibition presented Denmark as a design and architecture nation and won a Gold Award at the MUSE Design Awards 2021.

Kids’ City in 2020 invited families into a sensory universe showing how architecture can make city life healthier and more fun—through scale, light, materials, play and cycling culture.

Seven Homes with a Purpose in 2020 was shown in DAC Passage, presenting seven ONV Arkitekter proposals for living more affordably and meaningfully through smaller homes and stronger communities.

Capture Your City 2020: What is everyday magic to you? was a free outdoor photo exhibition featuring 55 selected images from 5,500+ submissions, documenting everyday life and public space during the COVID crisis.

Re-think, Re-use, Re-duce in 2019 was the Cabinetmakers’ Autumn Exhibition in DAC’s Golden Gallery, presenting 35 proposals for future furniture shaped by reuse, durability and reduced material use.

Dreyer’s Architecture Gallery 2019 presented three parallel exhibitions and the series offered a look into Denmark’s emerging architecture scene—from Mette Lange’s site-based approach to Studio Elements’ exploration of space and materials with accompanying podcasts, and Rural Agentur’s focus on agriculture and rural futures.

BIG presents FORMGIVING in 2019 presented 70+ projects by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group as an architectural journey from Big Bang to Singularity, framing “formgiving” as the act of giving form to what does not yet exist, using BIG projects from around the world and Bjarke Ingels’ own framing of why that matters today.

Capture Your City 2019: Change in the City presented 110 jury-selected images of urban change from 3,000+ submissions. One part stayed at Bryghuspladsen for the full period, while a sister exhibition moved between six city squares.

It’s Our Future in 2019 combined exhibition and programme to turn climate concern into action—You could test your CO₂ footprint, write to the climate minister, and explore visions for green cities. The exhibition had free entry for everyone under 26.

Irreplaceable Landscapes in 2019 invited visitors into a sensory landscape installation by Dorte Mandrup centred on the Wadden Sea and Greenland’s Icefjord.

Jørn Utzon Horisont in 2018 traced how Utzon’s travels and encounters with local cultures shaped his architecture—from the Arab world and Asia to Mallorca.

Ove Arup and the Philosophy of Total Design in 2018 presented Ove Arup’s “Total Design” idea—integrating engineering, form and aesthetics—through projects such as the Sydney Opera House and Centre Pompidou.

FORSK! was a free exhibition in DAC Passage in 2018, created with Aarhus School of Architecture, presenting new architecture research on digital technologies, climate adaptation and shared building history.

Dreyer’s Architecture Gallery 2018 gave three practices full freedom to create their own exhibitions: LETH & GORI, WE architecture and POINT.

Possible Spaces was Denmark’s contribution to the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018, curated by Natalie Mossin, presenting four cases on sustainable development through cross-disciplinary collaboration, framed by BLOX as Denmark’s “Freespace”.

Ursula Nistrup: Pink Pillars (2016–2018) ran in Autumn 2018 in DAC’s passage, featuring three stone-like pillars with an accompanying sound work inspired by the “musical” granite columns at the Vitthala temple complex in South India.

Capture Your City 2018 is DAC’s first outdoor exhibition at Bryghuspladsen in front of BLOX, curated from 2,600+ entries exploring the theme “my home in the city”.

Art of Many and The Right to Space in 2017 brought Denmark’s official Venice Architecture Biennale 2016 contribution to DAC. The exhibition featured 70+ Danish architecture practices and 130+ models, a major video installation with Jan Gehl, and short films produced by Utzon Center.

Welcome Home in 2018 was the first exhibition in DAC’s new home at BLOX, tracing housing breakthroughs in history, today’s challenges, and how we may build and live in the future.

Opening on Culture Night (2017), the exhibition City Struck was DAC’s last major show before the move to BLOX in 2018, bringing together photographs from Denmark and around the world by professional and selected amateur photographers.

Our future hospitals – Healing Architecture at DAC in 2018 explored how new hospitals can support healing through design principles, future technology and cases such as Børneriget, Slagelse and Herning.

Dreyer’s Architecture Gallery 2017 was a series of three individual exhibitions featuring lenschow & pihlmann, Arcgency and Studio Fountainhead—emerging practices focused on transformation and renovation of existing buildings.

The exhibition Built Denmark – The frameworks for our lives in 2017 used facts and human stories to map Denmark’s housing situation—how do we live, and how do our built surroundings shape everyday life? Created by DAC with the Housing Economics Knowledge Centre, the exhibition presented eye-opening housing facts in images and text, challenging assumptions about the scale, value and history of Denmark’s built environment.

The Hiroshi Sambuichi exhibition at DAC in 2017 presented a low-tech, place-based approach to sustainable architecture driven by “moving materials”: wind, water and light.

Inspired by the adult exhibition Wasteland, the children’s exhibition Bring on the Waste in 2017 explained upcycling through examples—from cork-stopper floors to the Upcycle House built from reused materials—and hands-on making for families.

Wasteland – From Waste to Architecture in 2017 showed how Lendager Group could turn waste into new resources through upcycling—such as floors made from tyres and ceilings made from plastic bottles.

Dreyer’s Architecture Gallery 2016 was a new exhibition space created by Dreyer’s Foundation and DAC, featuring three individual exhibitions by STED, Norrøn and Johansen Skovsted Arkitekter. It offered a unique peek into the day-to-day reality of the three young architectural firms.

The exhibition Our Urban Living Room in 2016 combined an exhibition at DAC with visits to Cobe and walkable, on-site experiences of Cobe’s Copenhagen projects.

The Danish contribution to the 15th international architecture Biennale in Venice in 2016 presented a snapshot of a new humanism in Danish architecture through a “wunderkammer” of prototypes, curated by Boris Brorman Jensen and Kristoffer Lindhardt Weiss.

The Let’s Play summer programme in 2016 explored informal, non-organised movement in the city and invited visitors of all ages to try new urban movement forms at and around the Danish Architecture Center.

Update – Making the City Smart in 2016 explored Smart City technologies and Big Data—and asking how cities can improve without becoming “Big Brother”.

Generic Structure Cell at the square in front of the Danish Architecture Center in 2016 allowed visitors to follow a live construction process testing fibre composites and textiles as future housing materials.

Life in China’s Megacities in 2016 presented everyday street-level life through film, sound and photography from five Chinese cities documented by Niels Bjørn. Featuring material from Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Chengdu and Beijing, the exhibition highlighted the contrasts between rapid urbanisation and daily life in neighbourhoods, squares and parks.

The Winter City in 2015 showed how public spaces can be activated in winter through materials, light and heat—alongside Sunday walks along Copenhagen’s harbour quay.

The exhibition Groundbreaking Constructions at the Danish Architecture Center in 2015 presented 100 projects that shaped the image of Danish architecture worldwide—created through collaboration between Danish architects and engineers.

Capture Your City 2015 in 2015 presented 1,000+ personal photos of city life from summer 2015, collected through a photo competition and Instagram challenges with Canon, Politiken and DAC.

The On Top of the Mountain family exhibition at DAC in 2015 invited families to explore Snøhetta’s landscape-based approach and build their own 3D model dioramas.

The exhibition Snøhetta – World Architecture at the Danish Architecture Center in 2015 presented the architecture firm Snøhetta’s holistic approach that connects building, landscape and public life.

The exhibition Co-Create Your City at the Danish Architecture Center in 2015 focused on democracy in architecture and urban development through citizen-led initiatives, as part of Denmark’s 2015 constitutional anniversary context.

The Good Cause – Architecture for Peace in 2015 showed how architecture and urban planning can build trust, ownership and safety in areas affected by war, conflict or major violence.

The exhibition The Rain is Coming – How climate change adaptation can create better cities in DAC in 2015 showed how rainwater can be managed in urban space through green and blue, recreational solutions. It traced the shift from sewer-based solutions to today’s cloudburst challenges, presenting ways to handle water on the surface while improving urban life and public space.

The exhibition Mind the Earth at the Danish Architecture Center in 2014 showed the Earth’s changes through selected Google Earth images—providing insights into how diverse, resilient, but also vulnerable our planet is.

The big exhibition in The Danish Architecture Center in 2014, Reprogramming The City – Opportunities for Urban Infrastructure was curated by urban strategist and writer Scott Burnham, who explores a new paradigm of urban creativity and resourcefulness.

Empowerment of Aesthetics was an exhibition in the Danish Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2014. Curated by Stig L. Andersson, it explored aesthetics through a sensory experience of earth, pine needles, and references to science and poetry, revealing the “forgotten forces” of aesthetics.

House in Motion at the Danish Architecture Center in 2014 explored the shared space of architecture and art through installations by artist Jes Fomsgaard and architect Anders Abraham.

The Heart of the Stone – Close Up III was DAC’s major summer exhibition in 2014. Created by author Tor Nørretranders, the exhibition offered a sensory exploration of Lundgaard & Tranberg’s architecture as a framework for the flows of light, energy and people.

The exhibition Shifts in 2014 examined how the global financial crisis since 2008 has reshaped architects’ and architecture’s societal role. It questioned architectural responsibility after the crisis, including the claim that only 5% of new buildings are designed by architects.

The exhibition The Banality of Good in 2014 examined sustainability from a social perspective in urban planning through seven post-war New Towns, including Albertslund in Denmark.

The Greenland – Head for the centre of the world exhibition at the Danish Architecture Center in 2013 was a re-curated version of Possible Greenland (Venice Biennale 2012) offering an updated view of modern Greenland—its opportunities and challenges.

Part of Nordic Outbreak, Digitally Disturbed – Moving image artworks at the Danish Architecture Center in 2013 featured a façade installation, digital projections and video installations by eight Nordic artists on the digital city.

Shown in connection with the Oslo Architecture Triennale in 2013, Copenhagen Solutions opened with a panel debate at DogA on how cities can drive sustainable development across social, economic and environmental goals.

The Zaha Hadid – World Architecture solo exhibition at the Danish Architecture Center in 2013 presented Zaha Hadid's iconic buildings, including projects such as MAXXI in Rome and the Ordrupgaard extension (2005), her only building in the Nordics.

The Your Harbour exhibition at the Danish Architecture Center in 2013 explored Copenhagen’s inner harbour in rapid change—past, present and future, and the role of citizens in shaping it.

The Copenhagen Solutions traveling exhibition was shown at University College London during the IFHP conference in 2013, presenting Copenhagen’s goal of becoming the world’s first CO2-neutral capital by 2025.

DAC’s mini-exhibition on Harpa – Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Centre celebrated the 2013 Mies van der Rohe Prize awarded to Henning Larsen Architects, Batteriið Arkitekter and Studio Olafur Eliasson.

The Copenhagen Solutions traveling exhibition at Energy Europe at Bella Center in 2013 presented Copenhagen’s goal of becoming the world’s first CO2-neutral capital by 2025.

The exhibition brought together three studio presentations in DAC in 2013 and focused on the complex relationships shaping architecture before construction—supported by press coverage from outlets including Politiken and Berlingske.

The Possible Greenland exhibition in Nuuk in 2013 presented the Danish/Greenlandic contribution to the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale on Greenland’s future. It showed how architectural expertise can support sustainable societal development in Greenland and the Arctic, addressing themes such as infrastructure, settlement, and migration.

The exhibition Europe’s best architecture in 2012 highlighted key trends in European contemporary architecture, from MAXXI in Rome and Juvet Landscape Hotel in Norway to Danish projects such as 8 House and DR Concert Hall.

The Copenhagen Solutions traveling exhibition in Hong Kong in 2012 presented Copenhagen’s goal of becoming the world’s first CO2-neutral capital by 2025.

The Possible Greenland exhibition at the Danish Architecture Center in 2012 focused on Greenland as a global turning point shaped by climate change, demographics, and new resource access.

The Material World exhibition at the Danish Architecture Center ran from 30 Mar to 5 Jun 2012, inviting visitors to explore 100 materials in five categories and 12 full-scale building sections.