Questioning the new now, especially with the new challenges of Covid-19, around the world, cities are advocating for structural change and collective action. Berlin questions, an annual, multi-day conference and a platform for transdisciplinary dialogue, in its 2021 edition “Metropolis: The New Now”, tackled the immediate present, creating a place for debate. Dedicated to local solutions to global challenges, the event took on a hybrid format, at various locations in Berlin and online, resembling the world we live in.
ArchDaily had the chance to meet up with the winner of the Iconic Awards 2021 in the Architects of the Year category Dorte Mandrup, architect, founder, and creative director of Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter at Berlin Questions, to discuss the firm’s latest project in the German capital, the Exile Museum and to reflect on her career and visions.
Founded in 1999, Danish architecture firm Dorte Mandrup, is behind one of the most recognizable cultural and educational projects, located especially in Scandinavian countries and in harsh climates. Believing that “it’s easier for people to relate to something that happened in history than something happening now”, the studio, through the Exile Museum, tackles historic and recent notions of migration and movements. Expected by 2025, the cultural space located on the ruins of one of the most important train stations in Europe, once completed will include individual biographies of exiled people, tracing their life paths through "immersive experiences."
On cities and their challenges, in our discussion at Berlin Questions, the architect stated that big cities have a possibility of surviving and that is why “we need to understand how to work with the dense city in a much humane way”. Considering that the architect’s role resides in making politicians aware of situations, Dorte Mandrup sees the need to establish political infrastructure in order to create spaces around and for people.
