WASTELAND-EXHIBITION — Lendager Group

Wasteland

Introduction

On January 26 2017 Danish Architecture Center in Copenhagen (DAC) opened Lendager Group’s exhibition ‘Wasteland – From waste to architecture’. Read the press coverage by the famous architecture media ArchDaily and Danish newspaper Berlingske.

At the present moment Wasteland travels around the world! First stop on the journey was from February 2018 to April 2018 in Kolding, Denmark. Now Wasteland travels to the art- and design museum Vandalorum in Värnamo, Sweden. You can experience Wasteland at Vandalorum from 16 June 2018 to 13 January 2019.

Background

The exhibition is taking its point of departure in current global and local challenges, including the fact that global population is currently growing by five school classes per minute, or one packed metro train every 2 minutes, or an entire village with 10,000 inhabitants per hour. It is estimated that the world population is increased by 83 million people only in 2016 – just slightly less than the population of Germany and Panama combined. This means that the total world population will rise to 9.7 billion by 2050 – so action is needed!

It is estimated that by 2030, five billion of the world population will live in cities and by 2050 two thirds of all people will be living in urban areas. This accelerates the demand for housing and put pressure on the cities. Obviously, it is a global challenge but at the same time it could be an opportunity. Right now, the built environment accounts for a large share of the global CO2 emissions and resource- and energy consumption. Specifically, the construction industry accounts for 40 percent of the global energy consumption and one third of total global CO2 emissions.

It is obviously not sustainable, but as an industry we have two options: we either accept the facts and try to ignore the problem for as long as possible. Or else we choose to see the unique opportunity of the crucial role we can play in creating a sustainable world where urbanization, urban space and housing play an essential part in the solution rather than being part of the problem.

Lendager Group has chosen the latter and thus Wasteland will be displaying selected projects in which architectural concepts help solve some of the global challenges facing the world.

TYPE, LOCATION

Exhibiton

Danish Architecture Center, Denmark

Kolding, Denmark

Värnamo, Sweden

KUNDE

Wasteland is curated by Lendager Group and developed in collaboration with Danish Architecture Center. The exhibiton is funded by Realdania, Dreyers Fond og Statens Kunstfond.

PARTNERS

Danish Architecture Center

Realdania

Danish Arts Foundation

Dreyers Fond

Asger Høeg Rådgivning

Kolding Municipality

The Triangle Region Denmark

Vandalorum

STATUS, YEAR

In progress

2017

TEAM

Responsible partner: Anders Lendager

Project manager: Sasha Beckmann

Production manager: Gunnar Agerskov Madsen & Kaare Karrebæk Thun

Exhibition architect: Mette Ørnstrup

Employees: Signe B. Munk, Jo Anna Nedergaard, Charlotte Astaes, Margo Fredericks, Rok Zurbi, Malene Køster Lasthein, Ditte Lysgaard Vind, Søren Brauer, Majken Lynge Gribskjold, Morten Nielsen

Context

The exhibition takes its point of departure in the change which is facing society, namely the transition towards a sustainable approach to design, production and consumption. It is a transition that involves a fundamental change regarding the concepts “raw materials” and “waste”. It is a transition that requires architects, manufacturers, demolishers, urban planners and consultants to elaborate on the consequences of the way we think about products, buildings and cities in the future.

This change has become urgent because of the global increase in consumption. With the western countries in the lead, a “throw-away society” has developed and the utilization of resources has escalated dramatically since the postwar period. Industrialization and globalization have created the phenomena of waste and pollution which are generated in enormous volumes with major environmental, economic and human consequences as a result.

In Denmark alone 11.74 million tons of waste is produced each year, of which the construction sector accounts for one third. At the same time, demand for building materials accelerates globally. What if waste was regarded as our greatest untapped resource which could be employed in the production of new buildings and modern urban development?

Content

With the Wasteland-exhibition Lendager Group is showcasing the not so distant reality, where residues and wastes are no longer seen as waste – but as the primary building materials in the development of our cities, homes and communities.

Wasteland poses the questions: what if the resources which we consider as discarded, could be included in the circuit and create beautiful products, houses and cities? What if waste was our largest potential resource?

Wasteland displays existing examples of such a world and points the way for future growth and synergy between design, production, consumption and resources. Building facades of old newspapers, floors of cork stoppers and houses ready for demolition being moved from abandoned regions to big cities are just some examples of the paradigm shift in the built environment. Aesthetics is in the center when new design principles are resulting in beautiful, modern, detail-rich buildings and cities.

The exhibition is based on materials we all know – namely, plastic, wood, concrete, brick, glass and metal. We follow them closely in the process from residue into valuable resources of high architectural and aesthetic quality. Our hope is that this exhibition contributes to a new understanding of waste as a valuable resource in the development of our common future.

Welcome to Wasteland!