Beyond Zero: Nordic Architecture on the Road Towards Renewed Practices

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The Nordic Carbon Neutral Bauhaus is coming to end. Beyond Zero -exhibition at Form/Design Centre in Malmö, Sweden consider possible steps towards the future in the spirit of Nordic NEB.

Environmental degradation is a complex crisis where problems such as emissions, the depletion of virgin resources, and a socially just transition are all intertwined.

Various states, cities, and organizations have set goals for achieving net-zero carbon emissions during the coming decades. However, emissions are only one facet of the complex challenge of environmental degradation. Aiming for low-carbon construction is therefore a step in the right direction, but if it is viewed as separate from – or as the sole solution to – addressing the wider environmental crisis, the conversation around emissions cannot achieve the systemic change the crisis truly demands.

Architecture and other art forms have been recognized as significant media for achieving and making palatable the holistic disruption that is at hand. Architecture should not be understood merely as pieces of art conceived at the designer’s desk, culminating in the completion of buildings, but as ongoing processes that both build and maintain humanity’s largest physical objects.

To understand how architecture’s environmental impacts arise and where its potential for improving environmental conditions lies, we must focus on the processes through which the built environment is produced.

This exhibition dives deeper into these architectural processes, approaching them from six different perspectives. To illustrate the viewpoints, the exhibition showcases 17 projects from the Nordic countries and Estonia, each offering its own ambitious perspective on the transition towards sustainable practices in the building industry.

Selected projects

The exhibition includes projects by Arhitekt Must, Arkkitehtitoimisto Sipinen & BST-Arkkitehdit, Anna María Bogadóttir, Collaboratorio, Djernes & Bell Architecture, EFFEKT Architects, Helen & Hard, Kaminsky Arkitektur & Hans Eek, Lendager, Mad arkitekter, Erik Mårtensson, Narva Katmann Architects, Pihl Katmann Architects, Salonen & Mona Schalin Architects, Studio Granda, Tengbom, Visit Faroe Islands

Exhibition team

Curators:
Iines Karkulahti, Anssi Lauttia, Charlotte Nyholm, Meri Wiikinkoski (Noon Architects & Vapaa Collective)

Exhibition architects:
Johannes Nieminen, Tuomas Siitonen (Kombo Office)

Commissioned by:
The Nordic Council of Ministers, The Ministry of the Environment (Finland), The Ministry of Education and Culture, Boverket and Form/Design Center.