Sustainable Cities Summer Abroad in Copenhagen
Twelve NJIT students lived in the world’s most sustainable city this summer. There they considered the architect’s role in shaping urban space as well as the future of carbon negative building materials. The project was led by professors of practice at NJIT's Hillier College of Architecture and Design, Carrie Bobo and Charlie Firestone. The primary focus of the trip was to facilitate conversations between NJIT students and researchers and practitioners in Scandinavia.
The students started the trip at the UIA, the World’s Congress of Architects in Copenhagen, Denmark where they listened to Bjarke Ingels speak before seeing his projects in person. They then visited the historic housing that Ingels credits as inspiration for his work, the Potato Row Houses.
Over the course of the trip students visited many sites and experts who have shaped the approach to sustainable cities in Scandinavia, for example, students visited Havnen's Hander on the recommendation of David Lewis of LTL and Martha Lewis, head of sustainability at Henning Larsen. There they listened to an incredibly in-depth presentation on the nature and specifics of bio-based materials. This emerging field offers the promise of a plastics free construction and Scandinavia is at the forefront of its development and implementation. Hempcrete, clay wall surfaces, and straw insulations are becoming more mainstream.
In Gothenburg, students had the opportunity to visit Södra's new CLT factory that opened in March, where they learned about sustainability metrics and technical performance criteria before touring the production process. CLT, or Cross Laminated Timber, is becoming a sought after for their expertise and is the primary source of components for contemporary timber buildings.
Konstepidemin was homebase for the students during their time in Gothenburg, a studio within a complex constructed in 1886 as an infectious disease hospital for the Cholera epidemic, now an artist’s collective. Artists Patrik Andine and Roland Boren invited students into their studios. Here they presented their design work to local artists and architects as well as the head of Gothenburg’s Climate Transition office. The reception provided a nice closure to the month spent in Gothenburg.
Students who would like to register for the 2024 trip can do so here. Google Form
A full visual synopsis can be downloaded here.
