September 18–October 19, 2025
Copenhagen 1620
Denmark
The first-ever Copenhagen Architecture Biennial is now less than a month away.
With the inaugural theme, Slow Down, we urge you to lower your pace. Some might insist: “Move fast and break things.” But we counter: “Move slow and mend systems."
After a century of an unprecedented upsurge in population, global GDP, energy use, and use of natural resources, it is no longer a question of whether we need to slow down, nor if we need to. It’s about how slowness will arrive. Slowing down means putting transformation over demolition, building for all species, and creating new communities while caring for our built environment.
In a public programme of more than 200 events—consisting of city walks, film screenings, lectures, exhibitions, harvest parties, performances, and much more—we will provide you with knowledge and insights into how we can bring about slowness and a more sustainable future together through architecture.
Our opening days are packed with events. Below you’ll find the highlights. See you in Copenhagen!
Opening party: September 18
The 2025 Copenhagen Architecture Biennial launches on 18th September with a free festive public celebration at the iconic Thorvaldsens Museum. Expect performances, DJ sets, and food offerings for all ages. Taking place in the heart of the Copenhagen Cultural District, the opening coincides with a district-wide celebration where many of the area’s 16 museums offer free admission and special events. Read more.
Slow Pavilions: September 18
Among hundreds of international participants Slaatto Morsbøl and Tom Svilans x THISS Studio were the winners of the Slow Pavilions open call. Each pavilion offers an architecturally sophisticated take on the architecture of the future, building with recycled and reusable materials. The opening of the pavilions will take place on 18th of September, with a guided tour. Read more.
Slow Down group exhibition opening: September 17, 4:30pm
Join the opening of our group exhibition Slow Down in collaboration with Form/Design Center in Malmö. The show offers an architectural defense of these unappreciated dispositions, tracing the new rhythms and imaginaries of the great dizzying deceleration that lies ahead. At Halmtorvet 27 in Copenhagen, we will show 12 transdisciplinary contributions. Read more.
Assemble!: September 18–19
Assemble! Is Europe’s new conference on architectural politics, bringing together architects, poets, developers, insurers, economists, legislators, copywriters and many more from across the sector.
Speakers such as Kate Orff, founder of SCAPE, Indy Johar, Founder of Dark Matters Labs and Anders Lendager, founder of Lendager will propose bold new legislation on Building Stop/Transformation, Climate Adaption and Ownership Models.
The programme will also include panel discussions and best-practice case studies with Søren Pihlmann (Pihlmann Architects), HouseEurope!, Dan Stubbergaard (Cobe), Rikke Juul Gram (Schønherr) among many others. We take you all the way from drawing up new legislation to creating narratives to build a movement pushing for a building sector operating within planetary boundaries. Get tickets.
Open house: September 20–21
Do you want to get free access to sites across Copenhagen that are usually inaccessible to the public? Open House lets you experience contemporary Danish architecture, historically significant buildings, climate adaptive landscape architecture and many other interesting sites in the city. Read more.
Film program: September 18–21
Experience the world premiere of Make Materials Matter, a new film portrait of Søren Pihlmann, and experience him in conversation.
The iconic duo Bêka & Lemoine introduces the Danish premiere of Softly Brutal, set in Bangkok’s Khlong Toei district, and Transmutations, a nine-part series exploring industrial sites around Brussels, presented in collaboration with Rotor.
World renowned urban planner Jan Gehl introduces and shows Jacques Tati’s Mon Oncle in an open air roof top cinema. And acclaimed landscape architect Kate Orff and the films director, Kira Akerman, presents the award-winning Hollow Tree. Get tickets.
