The first edition of the Copenhagen Architecture Biennial will take place from 18 September to 19 October 2025. Organized by CAFx (Copenhagen Architecture Forum), the event marks a transition from the previous annual Copenhagen Architecture Festival to a more expansive platform for architectural exploration. The theme of the inaugural edition, "Slow Down," invites participants to reflect on how the rapid pace of modern life affects the built environment. According to the organizers, this thematic shift encourages the envisioning of spaces that promote sustainability, longevity, and mindful engagement with our surroundings. In line with this vision, the organization launched an open call earlier this year for pavilion proposals that embody principles of circular design while serving as hubs for public programming during the event. Two winning proposals, modular structures by Slaatto Morsbøl and Tom Svilans x THISS Studio, were selected, each offering an approach to architectural deceleration.
The Biennial seeks to explore how architecture can respond to the consequences of the "Great Acceleration," including population growth, energy use, and resource depletion, by contributing to what it terms a "Great Deceleration." The selected "Slow Pavilions" by Slaatto Morsbøl and Tom Svilans x THISS Studio aim to give this concept a tangible form, providing a local image of what slowing down the global system might look, feel, and sound like. The pavilions will be installed in Copenhagen's Cultural District, at Søren Kierkegaard Plads and Gammel Strand, using recycled, regenerative, and reusable materials. The project is being developed in collaboration with Revalu, Dreyers Foundation, and Buro Happold. Titled "Barn Again" and "Inside Out, Downside Up," the two pavilions reinterpret material reuse as part of an "architecture of the slow."
"Barn Again" is a collaboration between architectural designer Tom Svilans, UK-based THISS Studio, engineers Bollinger+Grohmann, and Danish carpenters Winther A/S. The design reimagines the traditional Norwegian barn by reconfiguring reclaimed timber elements from a disused structure into a sheltered cocoon located at Gammel Strand. The pavilion contrasts the familiar architectural language of the barn with new joinery and precise machine-made cuts. According to the Biennial, the installation addresses slowness on three levels: by offering a space for pause within the urban environment; by extending the lifecycle of materials; and through a tectonic dialogue between traditional craft and digital fabrication.
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"Inside Out, Downside Up" by Slaatto Morsbøl (Thelma Slaatto and Cecilie Morsbøl) transforms found and reused components into a pavilion that promotes sensory engagement and contemplation at Søren Kierkegaard Plads. The project interprets slowness as a process of physical and emotional recalibration, returning to sensory awareness. Materials such as halved ventilation pipes, exposed perforated bricks, reclaimed timber, and thatching reed form a tactile structure that contrasts with the abstraction and speed of modern construction. The pavilion encourages visitors to slow down not only through its ambiance but through its very method of construction, challenging the detachment from material processes common in contemporary architecture.
In other recent architectural news, a month has passed since the opening of the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale, which features 65 national pavilions, collateral events, and over 700 participants across its international exhibition. National pavilions have also taken shape at Expo Osaka 2025 in Japan, running from April 13 to October 13, 2025. Meanwhile, in London, Peter Cook's Play Pavilion opened on June 11 at Serpentine South to mark World Play Day, shortly after the unveiling of the 2025 Serpentine Pavilion by Marina Tabassum Architects.
