Sustainability in Scandinavia

The challenges of the global climate crisis are heightened in large part by a pervasive uncertainty regarding how architects and designers can address this challenge most effectively. In a situation where action is needed, but the correct strategies remain unknown, it is essential for architects to share their experiences and knowledge as broadly as possible. They must seek out perspectives that can help them overcome these impasses. When climate change was put at the top of the international environmental agenda more than a decade ago, Scandinavian countries were ready and able to respond quickly and methodically. Today, Scandinavia is still on the forefront of sustainable development, reorienting cultural engagement and economic growth to face climate change. The experience and knowledge accumulated by architects from Denmark, Norway and Sweden have the potential to enrich the exchange of ideas that is vital to a shift towards holistic thinking and sustainable architectural practice. In this book, essential aspects of sustainability in architecture and planning are approached from many diverse perspectives. They exemplify the breadth and depth of explorations underway. The collection of writings is based on six years of visits made to the three Scandinavian countries, and sustained engagements with the schools of architecture in the capital cities of Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm. The book aims to illuminate lessons being learned by architects in Scandinavia, that are also relevant in a global perspective. The main drivers of sustainability are highlighted through case studies that cover all scales from planning and infrastructure to buildings and components. The cases illustrate central themes such as energy, lifecycles, industrialization, durability, transformation, and history. More acutely architectural topics such as adaptability, integrated design, and architectural education/tradition further permeate the cases. At the same time, the projects exemplify the best practices of sustainable architecture in Scandinavia including housing, offices, cultural buildings, and urban development. Ali Malkawi is professor of architectural technology at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and founding director of the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities, Marius Nygaard is professor of architecture at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO), Anne Beim is professor of architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Schools of Architec-ture, Design and Conservation in Copenhagen (KADK), Erik Stenberg is associate professor of architecture at the KTH School of Architecture and the Built Environment in Stockholm.