Changing Ideals: 1919 - 2019 - 2119

Curatorial Statement

Under the main theme Changing Ideals: 1919 - 2019 - 2119, the festival will run simultaneously in the cities of Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense.
In the year of the 2019 national election, we are evaluating the basic values of the expanded field of architecture and its role in urban and social development over the last 100 years – while also looking towards the next century.

We are diving into how ideals for homes, urban life, and urban development have changed. Starting from the creation of the of BL - Danish Social Housing association and the modernist stronghold of the Bauhaus School in 1919, we move onto the post-war booming welfare city with idealistic ”cradle-to-grave” urban developments such as Tingbjerg and Albertslund, and arrive at the more market-driven housing and urban development since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. This history speaks directly to many of today’s key architectural challenges, including the lack of affordable housing, planned demolitions of existing social housing estates, and property speculation by international private equity funds.
At the same time, we are looking into the crystal ball to consider the role, ideals, and values of architecture in the future with the international exhibition Housing the Human, where five young architects, designers, and artists are making futuristic research prototypes. In addition, we have invited key players in Danish architecture to create a manifesto, reflecting upon the role of architecture in 2019. Their contributions will be published in a book that will be handed over to policymakers and urban developers during the festival. For the first time, the CAFx-team has also made a documentary film about the renegotiations of cultural heritage, public space, and freedom in North Macedonia’s capital Skopje under the title Skopje: a city interrupted.

There is no doubt that the ideals of the good life have changed throughout history and will, of course, continue to do so. As Danes, we have become more diverse in our cultural backgrounds, family patterns, and personal experiences, with national statistics currently counting 37 different family types in Denmark. Now more than ever, we need new and different types of housing that reflect this.
But while it is hardly possible to formulate one coherent narrative, is it still possible to create an inclusive and sustainable common framework for the good life and the good city? Can we re-think the particular Danish model of affordable housing for all? Furthermore, how should the mixed city – which everyone is talking about – be designed and future-proofed?

If architecture can help change the world, citizens’ living conditions, and everyday life, where should it lead us? How can we plan inclusive residential areas and urban development, and what can we learn from modernism’s experiences? How can we secure affordable housing after the global economy has distorted the housing market and created, would some say, more uneven cities and segregated neighbourhoods?

There will be ample opportunity to investigate and discuss these issues at the festival across our different programme themes: The welfare city under construction, Europe between the Berlin Wall and Brexitland, Future scenarios and manifestos for the architecture, The paradoxes of the Bauhaus, and Metropolises.

But we also stick to more established formats at the festival such as Open House, where we have asked various design studios to invite us inside and give an insight into the architecture on site and to current projects on the drawing board. Our Film portraits: The Life and Poetics of the Architect gives you the opportunity to be inspired and study the masters up close, and our CAFx KADK lectures allow you to hear from an array of prominent international voices within architecture.

Once again, we have invited an international star architect to make a film programme for the festival. This year, Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao has organised a small film programme which especially focuses on her hometown of Mexico City. She will introduce the films and be found at several other activities during the festival in the lead up to her show at Louisiana this autumn.

We hope to satisfy everybody’s tastes with more than 150 public events in Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense, divided into films and debates, exhibitions, guided tours, workshops, conferences, talks, open houses, and more.