Photo: Lasse Dearman
Curator chosen for the Danish Pavilion Biennale 2025
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Senior Press Officer Johanne Troelsgaard Toft
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Architect Søren Pihlmann has been appointed curator of the Danish pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2025. The exhibition at the Danish pavilion will seek to answer the question: “Can we keep on building the world without building anew?”
On behalf of the Danish Ministry of Culture, an evaluation committee consisting of representatives from the architecture committee of the Danish Arts Foundation, the philanthropic association Realdania and Danish Architecture Center have selected architect Søren Pihlmann to curate the official Danish contribution to the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2025.
Søren Pihlmann, architect and founder of pihlmann architects, was chosen from a field of six candidates, who were all invited to submit their proposal for the exhibition at the Danish pavilion.
Under the heading ‘Can we keep on building the world without building anew?’, the evaluation committee wants the Danish contribution to focus on the transition to a sustainable society via the preservation and reuse of the existing building stock and cultural heritage.
“We demolish and build anew more than we use what we already have, and we do it in a way that damages not only our basis of existence but the basis of existence of future generations especially. Has this harsh reality truly not dawned on us?” asks Søren Pihlmann.
Søren Pihlmann will create a sensory installation, and the Danish pavilion will act as the framework for disseminating a new, circular architectural practice that focuses on using the materials and building components that are already available in the building and at the venue.
The exhibition will be created in collaboration with experts from Danish architecture schools, the public authorities, research centers, as well as builders, manufacturers and material specialists.
“Søren Pihlmann’s proposal contained a surprising and original 1:1 answer to the question of how we can keep on building the world without building anew. We expected a radical proposal that consolidates civil architecture, history and cultural history in a sensory experience, and which also communicates an entirely new architecture discipline and approach that preserves and reuses our existing built heritage,” says the jury.
About the Danish Pavilion
The Danish Ministry of Culture owns the Danish pavilion in Venice that is used for the architecture and art biennales. The Danish Ministry of Culture has designated Danish Architecture Center as the commissioner for the official Danish contribution to the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.