Aarhus School of Architecture Launches New Research Centre for Emerging Landscapes

Aarhus School of Architecture’s new centre for emerging landscapes focuses on developing sustainable urban areas and landscapes during climate change.

16.05.2024

As climate change progresses, we are faced with an urgent task: to reconsider our approach to urban and landscape planning with a focus on climate, water, landscapes, and biodiversity. In order to address this challenge, Aarhus School of Architecture now launches the innovative research centre Center for kommende landskaber (Centre for Emerging Landscapes). Motivated by climate change, the Centre for Emerging Landscapes is going to develop new methods focusing on adaptive transformations and new ways of using the land that contribute to developing the urban landscapes of both tomorrow and the future.

“Research and development into the built landscapes of the future are crucial to the sustainability of our societies. We need to come up with innovative solutions capable of countering the consequences of climate change. But we also need to develop methods and strategies that will enable us to achieve coherent long-term planning of urban areas and landscapes. The Centre for Emerging Landscapes will be a key resource in developing and implementing such strategies and methods”, says Thomas Bo Jensen, Head of Research at Aarhus School of Architecture.

The Centre for Emerging Landscapes is based on several key areas in which innovative solutions and strategies are needed. One key focus area is the increasing and varying amounts of water that constitute a challenge as well as a potential in the future development of urban areas and landscapes. The centre seeks to develop and contribute methods of mitigating both floods and droughts, while optimising water resources and ensuring access to clean drinking water.

The centre has a focus on ecologies. And one of its objectives is to promote biodiversity – both over and under water. This focus involves afforestation, nature conservation, and integrated design practices based on water catchment areas. Through experiments conducted in landscape laboratories that apply innovative and aesthetic approaches to managing nature and ecosystems, the centre aims to contribute knowledge and full-scale experiments that address future challenges resulting from climate change and urbanisation.

Finally, the centre focuses on developing sustainable, adaptive planning strategies with the potential for climate change adjustment, reducing CO2 emissions, and promoting quality of life in urban communities. By applying a systemic perspective and involving a wide range of stakeholders, the centre aims to identify and test innovative solutions that may contribute to the development of cities and landscapes that are more sustainable and more connected with places.

Katrina Wiberg has been chosen as head of the centre. Wiberg is an associate professor at Aarhus School of Architecture, where she carries out research into the interaction of increasing volumes of water, habitation, and land use – an area in which we need to discover approaches that can be adapted and developed over time. Her work is based on the premise of using as a potential for transformation what already exists – what has already been built or grown, including nature’s own processes. In 2018, the Danish Arts Foundation awarded her Dristighedsprisen; an award given for bold research.

“Our landscapes are changing: All parts of Denmark get more water. Coastal areas are experiencing sea level rise, rises in groundwater levels, and backwater effects. But in some periods, we are also going to have longer dry spells. We are going to experience more extreme conditions, and we have already seen what long periods of rain, cloudbursts, and flooding can do. We still construct too many buildings, in the wrong places. And we need to develop new methods and new knowledge. We will have to learn from the mistakes of the past, instead of repeating them. We need to be able to see the potential of the existing, we need to think in terms of ‘hybrids’ – new functions and new qualities. This means discovering new, attractive ways of doing things”, says Katrina Wiberg.

The centre will be dedicated to basic research as well as to developing methods in practice. By working closely with municipalities, practicians and suppliers, the centre aims to continuously refine and expand its knowledge base and develop new approaches to solving today’s challenges. Strongly anchored in location-specific existing resources and an understanding of the complex interaction between climate, landscapes, biodiversity, and human interests, the centre will make committed efforts across sectors aimed at promoting a more sustainable future. The centre is going to develop, gather, and share knowledge with other actors. And, in this sense, it is the centre’s aim to reach out to and collaborate with stakeholders in areas concerned with climate change: researchers, practicians, organisations, citizens, politicians, and industry.

The launch of the new centre will be celebrated with an opening event at Aarhus School of Architecture on 30 May – from 16.00 to 18.00. The event includes brief presentations of current research projects of the centre by Professor Tom Nielsen, Associate Professor Stefan Darlan Boris, and Associate Professor Katrina Wiberg.

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