AARHUS SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE CELEBRATES THE BIG 6-0

Today we celebrate Aarhus School of Architecture’s milestone birthday at Exners Plads. Students and staff gathered in the large workshop space, MockUp, for a shared celebration with breakfast, singing, and flags – as well as a speech by Rector Kristine Leth Juul.

Aarhus School of Architecture welcomed its first students in 1965 in the old buildings at Nørreport 20. It was a time of great change, both in society and at the school. The atmosphere was marked by politics, new thinking, and critique, creating the foundation for a study environment oriented toward new ideas and experimental professional currents.

Rector spoke about six decades of shifting “isms” and trends — from the social engagement and student revolts of the 1960s and 70s to the following decades’ focus on form and the architectural work itself. During those years, the architectural scene in Aarhus looked outward to the world, and the international star architects served as inspiration for many new studios in the city. In the 2000s, new technology and global movements opened up entirely new, almost boundless possibilities in terms of materials and form. In the 2010s came the hangover — marked by economic crisis and growing climate awareness.

A new era

Many generations of students have completed an architecture degree at Aarhus School of Architecture — under varying admission rules, physical settings, ministries, curricula, teachers, and professional movements. The most recent major chapters include the move to the new school at Exners Plads in 2021 and the implementation of a New Curriculum — a new architecture program in 2024.

Kristine spoke about our current focus, which today is turned toward materials, tactility, preservation, the embedded stories, and the cycles everything is part of — our connection to nature and to history.

Rector emphasized in her speech the importance of the school as a meeting point across time and trends — what former Rector Niels Ole Lund called creating spirit. Kristine described it like this:

“The power that lies in the projects, in the will to show new paths, and in the way we come together around what truly matters. And that we do this across professions and disciplines, experiences and generations – that, in my eyes, is unique and perhaps the most important of all! For 60 years, we have created stories, experiments, discussions, and new traditions – all that has kept this creating spirit alive.”

See the photo gallery below with pictures from today’s celebration and from the time at Nørreport 20. Many thanks to the former students and staff who have sent in photos.