bjarke ingels group opens FORMGIVING exhibition at the danish architecture center

the largest exhibition to date of bjarke ingels group’s architecture and philosophy has gone on view at the danish architecture center in copenhagen. titled ‘FORMGIVING’, the exhibition takes visitors on a chronological journey, from the big bang, to life as we know it today and the possibilities of the future. the display seeks to offer insight into the mind of bjarke ingels and his ‘formgiving’ design philosophy. ‘the danish word ‘formgivning’ literally means to give something a form that does not yet have a form,’ ingels explains. ‘in other words: to shape the future. and more specifically: to shape the world we want to live in — in the future.’

all images by rasmus hjortshøj

the exhibition, which remains on view at the danish architecture center until january 5, 2020, unfolds in three chapters. upon entry, visitors are greeted with a giant, spatial timeline, beginning with the big bang — the birth of the universe 14 billion years ago. this illustrates how formgiving has played a key role in the evolution of our planet and how it continues to do so. on their journey, visitors can step into the ‘golden gallery’, where a huge pool of LEGO bricks is surrounded by 25 BIG-designed buildings in LEGO.

visitors then meet the present in the form of a miniature city of new architectural works that include the premiere of several brand-new BIG designs. finally, guests are invited to journey into the future for a closer look at building technology such as robots, AI, 3D-printing and more, which could one day enable humans to live on mars. ‘every time we design a project, as formgivers we can give the future a gift — giving the world something it otherwise wouldn’t have and hasn’t asked for,’ ingels continues. ‘by giving the future a gift every time we break ground on a new project, we come one step closer to the world of our dreams: a pragmatic utopia.’

‘BIG is one of the most successful and innovative architectural firms of our time, and the man behind it, bjarke ingels, is a master at pushing boundaries, creating innovative architecture and redefining the value of architecture,’ adds kent martinussen, CEO, danish architecture center. ‘DAC’s newest exhibition gives visitors a unique glimpse into the master’s own workshop and explains the design philosophy that is changing our world. we say we’re only limited by our imaginations, but bjarke ingels’ imagination is limitless.’

‘FORMGIVING — an architectural future history from BIG bang to singularity’ remains on view at the danish architecture center in copenhagen until january 5, 2020.

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project info:

name: FORMGIVING – an architectural future history from big bang to singularity
size: 1,350 m2 / 14,000 ft2
location: danish architecture center, copenhagen, denmark
foundations: realdania, industriens fond, beckett fonden, ole kirk’s fond
sponsors: AGC interpane, architectural titanium, artemide, brandfactory, DOW, fogs fond, fritz hansen, gaggenau, grohe, hay, holmris, jansen, JUNG, kvadrat, laufen, LEGO community engagement programme, llama, louis poulsen, microsoft, edge technologies, petersen tegl, POHL, rockwool, mcneel, sika, swiss embassy, s.pellegrino, squint/opera, taschen, thyssenkrupp, vitra, walter p. moore, zahner, world of facades, zumtobel
BIG LEGO builders: anders thuesen, anders horvath, anne mette vestergaard, are heiseldal, elisabeth horte, emil lidé, esben kolind, glenn knoesgaard, helgi toftegaard, jan smed, jessica farrell, lars barstad, lasse vestergaard, rené askham, rocco buttliere, trine dalsgaard jensen, zio chao, tormod askildsen, tanja friberg
special thanks to: jeffrey inaba, adam and rebekah neumann, jonah nolan and lisa joy, aaron koblin, chris milk, douglas coupland, david eagleman, jeppe hein, scott dadich, andrew zuckermann, michel rojkind, didier lootens, solène wolff, jan bunge, TED, all the BIG builders, ruth otero, darwin otero ingels
DAC team: kent martinussen, martin bang, beate bernhoft, maibritt borgen, roger brodzki, jacob bruun hansen, kennie buchmann, christine clemmesen, anthony del campo, ricky hansen, yasmin kokseby, gökhan kuvvetli, maya lahmy, lykke ley, mette mousten, andreas rasmussen, kenneth skovby, arthur van der zaag, kim vedsted, jesper værn

BIG – bjarke ingels group

partner-in-charge: bjarke ingels, kai-uwe bergmann, andreas klok pedersen
project leader: gabrielle nadeau
FORMGIVING team: mattia di carlo, matteo pavanello, dimitrie grigorescu, scott moon, paula madrid, andre zanolla, amanda cunha, dominiq oti, edvard connor burnett, ella murphy, francisca hamilton, irie meree, marija lukoseviciute, pernille kinch andersen, ricardo oliveira, robert birchmaier, victor moegreen, daria pahhota, jesslyn guntur, james caruso, jiyoon lee, carmelo gagliano, bernardo schuhmacher, izabella banas, mads primdahl rokkjær, norain chang, davide pellegrini, peter sepassi, ada gulyamdzhis, qamelliah nassir, tiffany wong, elnaz rafati, mai lee, ana maria vindfeldt, walid bhatt, january chen, søren dam mortensen, cecilie søs brandt-olsen, mantas povilaika, giovanni simioni, jae min seo, ombretta colangelo, agnieszka majkowska, nick flutter, adam poole, jan leenknegt, tobias hjortdal, alexander jacobson, tore banke, jens majdal kaarsholm, cheng-huang lin, kristoffer negendahl, anders holden deleuran, duncan horswill, andy coward, john harding, leah peschel, sarah amick, jakob sand, brian yang, cat huang, jakob lange