About this course
In this studio you engage in an exploration of Danish and Scandinavian design practice through challenging assignments addressing real sites and issues in and around Copenhagen. Studio groups combine students of different levels and backgrounds. This course is taught vertically, and expectations relate to you as an individual student.
Syllabus
Spring 2026 – LL
Go to syllabusSpring 2026 – KH
Go to syllabusPre-requisites
Enrollment in a professional school or department of architecture or design. Two spatial design studios at university level.
Faculty
Karianne Halse
Cand.Arch. (Architecture, Aarhus School of Architecture, 2012). Ph.D. (Architecture, Aarhus School of Architecture, 2023). Junior Architect, James Corner Field Operations (NYC), 2010. Architect, SLETH, 2012. Lecturer, (BA, MA), Aarhus School of Architecture, 2012—2020. Architect, SLA, 2016. Architect, BRIQ, 2024—2025. Architect and Researcher, VÆRK/sted, 2025—present. With DIS since 2025.
Leslie Lorimer
BA (Economics, Stanford University, 1988). MA (Architecture, UC San Diego-UC Berkeley, 1992-1995). Jr. Designer, Project Architect, SMWM 1997-2000. Partner, Lorimer Architecture 2000-2009. In-house Architect + VM, Georg Jensen 2011-2014. Project Manager, Glahn Retail 2014-2015. Founder, Lobo Lab. Arkitektur 2016-present. With DIS since 2010.
Jacob Nørløv
Architect. Previously employed at Foster and Partners, where designed and tendered for Swiss-Re House, 1998-2001. Previously employed at Henning Larsen Architects, where designed and tendered for the Opera House in Copenhagen, 2001-2004. Own office since 2010 working with research and architecture. Teacher of Architectural Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark since 2011. Guest critique at DIS since 2011. With DIS since 2013.
Marie-Louise Holst
Architect MAA (Aarhus School of Architecture, 2003). Employment as design tutor and lecturer University of Sydney, Australia (2005-2007) and University of Technology, Sydney (2008-2012). Employment at Johnson Pilton Walker, Sydney (2003-2004), Richard Goodwin Studio, Sydney (2004-2006), 3xN, Copenhagen (2006-2007), Neeson Murcutt Architects, Sydney (2007-2010), Force4, Copenhagen (2010-2011) and EFFEKT, Copenhagen (2013-present). With DIS Since 2014.
Mia Behrens
Masters in Architecture and Landscape (Special focus; UN sustainable development goals) from The Royal Danish Academy of Art – School of Architecture (2017-2020), Bachelors degree in Architecture (Complexity Handling in Practice) From The Royal Danish Academy of Art – School of Architecture (2013-2016). Own architectural practice since 2020 — Working with the tension between landscape and building. Project lead and Architects at IKEAs Innovation lab SPACE10 (2017-2018). Professional experience also includes research, lecturing and consultancy. With DIS since 2021
Cecilia Nilsson
Architect MAA (Royal Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Copenhagen, 1985). AART Architects (2019-2022), CCO Architects (2011-2018), SCAN Architects, Own Office (2003-2010), KHRAS Architects (1999-2003), Henning Larsen Architects (1994-1998), Vilhelm Wohlert Architects (1988-1993), PLS Architects, Interior design, (1987), Dissing and Weitling Architects (1985-1986). Worked as project manager in Building Design. With DIS (2003-2012) Architectural Studio, Visual Journal, Watercolor, Urban Journal, Adjunct Professor at Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, School of Architecture (1999-2000, 2004-2006). With DIS since 2022.
Short Study Tour
About this tour
Core Course Week, including this short Study Tour to western Denmark, forms an integral part of your studio curriculum by exposing you to high-quality historic and modern architecture, as well as urbanism. Not only will you discover the qualities that make a building or site quintessentially ‘Danish,’ you will also experience Danish culture from traditional cuisine, art, and concerts. You will make studies of significant religious architecture, housing prototypes, innovative museum designs, and the integration of buildings into landscapes or urban fabrics.
These sites, as sensory architectural experiences, provide you the opportunity to develop your critical observation skills and diagrammatic and representational proficiency. Simultaneously, you will be equipped with a vocabulary of design concepts, strategies, and materials, which you can apply in your own creative work in studio and beyond.
Learning outcomes
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Study contemporary and traditional Danish architecture and landscape architecture
- Gain an understanding of Danish history, geography, and culture outside the Copenhagen region
- Develop sketching and note-taking skills for recording impressions of sites in a journal
Possible activities
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Compare different spaces for art, including Trapholt, Koldinghus, and ARoS, and visit a traditional Danish church and the iconic Crematorium Chapel by Henning Larsen
- Study adaptive re-use and reconstruction in Koldinghus
- Tour significant urban sites in Århus from different eras, including the Town Hall (mid-20th century modernism), and ARoS Museum of Modern Art (21st century)
About this tour
As a full-year student, the Berlin study tour forms an integral part of your studio curriculum and is an opportunity to continue to develop your skills in visual analysis of design themes, and spatial and sensory impressions. As experienced architectural travelers, you have the challenge of investigating Berlin as a historically-layered urban entity and as a composite network of zones, spaces, and sites. The way the old city fabric has been reworked through constructed interventions and contemporary planning will be evident through your sensitive and critical view, and cultural experiences with the city.
You will advance your critical observation skills and diagrammatic and representational proficiency by studying the sites on the tour. Simultaneously, you will be equipped with a vocabulary of design concepts, strategies, and materials, which can be applied in your own creative work in studio and beyond.
Learning outcomes
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Study the city as a complex amalgam of historic and modern spaces and functions
- Analyze how urban development and design expression have reacted to political events and social movements
- Develop sketching and note-taking skills for recording impressions of sites in a journal
Possible activities
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Studying how planning and architecture connect the present to the past in areas such as Potsdamer Platz, the Kulturforum and former East German neighborhoods
- Visits to Neues Museum, Neue Nationalgalerie, and Bauhaus Archive
- Tour of the former Reichstag, now the German Bundestag
Long Study Tour
