Age of Nature: Danish Architecture Center’s Landmark Exhibition Reimagines the Bond Between Architecture and the Natural World
Architecture Meets Ecology in the “Age of Nature” Exhibition
Opening on World Architecture Day, October 6, 2025, the Danish Architecture Center (DAC) unveils its most ambitious exhibition to date: “Age of Nature.” On view through May 17, 2026, this groundbreaking show occupies DAC’s largest exhibition space and examines how architecture can evolve to sustain both human life and biodiversity in an era defined by environmental urgency.Set against the backdrop of intensifying climate challenges, “Age of Nature” explores the central question of our time: Can the built environment coexist symbiotically with the natural world?
Speculative Visions for Regenerative Design
Through a series of immersive installations, architectural models, and interactive experiences, “Age of Nature” proposes a future where buildings act not as barriers but as living systems. Visitors will encounter projects that blur the line between architecture and ecology, inviting reflection on how design can actively restore what it once consumed.Among the exhibition’s highlights is a vertical mushroom tower — a living installation that grows like a vertical field, freeing ground space for wilderness. Elsewhere, facades are reimagined as micro-ecosystems, supporting insects, plants, and water cycles. In filmmaker Liam Young’s visionary short, The Great Endeavor, a global workforce collaborates to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere using technologies that already exist today.
Together, these works challenge visitors to rethink architecture’s potential — moving beyond sustainability toward regeneration.
Denmark as a Living Laboratory
The exhibition’s message resonates deeply in Denmark, one of the world’s most cultivated nations, where only 0.7% of land remains wild. As renewable energy projects, urban development, and climate infrastructure reshape the country, “Age of Nature” poses a provocative question: How can land be shared equitably between humans and nature?By presenting both Danish and international perspectives, the exhibition underscores how design can become an instrument for ecological repair rather than depletion. It celebrates architects, artists, and researchers pioneering approaches that build with nature instead of against it.
Four Themes of Coexistence and Renewal
Divided into four thematic sections, “Age of Nature” examines how architecture can serve as an active participant in ecological systems. These sections explore:- Whether cities can be designed for greater species diversity.
- How new models of food production might restore wilderness.
- In what ways technology can help heal natural ecosystems.
- And ultimately, how design thinking can redefine humanity’s role within nature.
A Call to Reimagine the Future of Living
“Age of Nature” is more than an exhibition — it’s a cultural manifesto for the next century of architecture. It invites architects, urbanists, and citizens alike to envision a future where buildings breathe, grow, and coexist with the living world around them.In doing so, the Danish Architecture Center reaffirms its role as a global platform for innovation and dialogue, reminding us that the future of design depends not on domination, but on collaboration with nature itself.
