Carsten Thau has passed away. He was a professor emeritus at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture and was for many years an associate professor at Aarhus School of Architecture.

Over the past 45 years, Carsten Thau was an important influence on Danish culture. He had a unique and very committed ability to analyse and convey cultural theoretical aspects through various media, with a focus on arts, film and architecture. The many articles and books he published are characterised by the impressive way he had with language, which he used to grab the attention of his readers. And the countless well-attended lectures he gave brought about an enthusiasm for his performances which reached a level that gave him star status among Denmark’s cultural movers and shakers and among people with an interest in culture in general.

He grew up in the town of Horsens and started studying the history of ideas at Aarhus University in the midst of the counterculture movement of the 60s. Here he was introduced to an academically critical environment and to capitalist Marxism. During his studies, he went to Germany to study philosophy and art history at Johan Wolfgang Goethe University, in Frankfurt. And he was part of the ‘trendy’ group of people associated with the neo-Marxist Frankfurt School- a group which debated critical cultural and social theoretical ideologies communicated by, among others, Jürgen Habermas and TW Adorno.
After obtaining his Master’s degree in 1973, he began teaching theory to students at Aarhus School of Architecture, and from 1976 onwards he was part of the school’s permanent cross-disciplinary staff of teachers.

In the seventies and eighties the architecture school was characterised by the absence of strict admission requirements, progressive reforms, or pre-selection tests. Teaching was project-oriented and characterised by symbiotic interaction between teachers and students, an interaction Carsten Thau was involved in. Due to his knowledge of theories and his fine-tuned abilities to combine issues, he was able to contribute new perspectives and approaches to all subjects. The importance of the relationship between specific works and theories was clear to him when – during study trips with students and colleagues around Europe – he would analyse buildings or town plans from a societal and historical perspective on location.

Carsten was probably most appreciated when he gave his long lectures, which were known to be ‘monumental’ events lasting half a day, or all night performances of more than three hours. Making use of dramatic timing, he would often arrive 15 minutes late – and was eagerly awaited by an excited and crowded auditorium. The lectures were captivating speech flows, with aside stories moving in and out of the main story like tiny baroque ripples, during which the audience was confronted with his impressive memory and inventive analogies and ways of combining words – while he would, now and again, with charming vanity and a smile on his lips, sweep his locks away from his forehead.

His influence on students and on the school’s teaching of theory and history was very great. And it contributed to the school moving towards international recognition in this period.
In 1996, Carsten Thau moved to Copenhagen and accepted a professorship in the ideas and history of architecture at the schools of architecture, design and conservation of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.

Here he was given the task of continuing the important work of introducing theories into the teaching of aspiring architects and designers. Other opportunities to expand the theoretical dissemination of culture via television and major book publications also presented themselves. In this context, he, together with Associate Professor Kjeld Vindum, co-authored and published a long-awaited monograph on the architect Arne Jacobsen. This publication was a comprehensive and long book based on long-standing and meticulous preparations. It was to become his most renowned work and also one of the best-selling Danish books on architecture; a book which was also distributed widely internationally.
A wholly unique and amazing person has passed away. He will be missed by many – yet his memory lives on.

– Leif Høgfeldt Hansen

Nordic Perspectives #2 sheds light on some of the most interesting and discussed examples on recent Nordic architecture, with a few digressions to other familiar regions, presented by a handful of distinguished practicing architects from Denmark, Norway, Finland, England, Switzerland and India.

The general awareness of the qualities of Nordic architecture seems still to be growing outside the Nordic region. But within the Nordic countries, and not least architecture schools, the awareness of home-grown values tends to be eclipsed by the constant flood of global trends.

With Nordic Perspectives #2, we wish to give new breath to ideas and dreams marked by Nordic approaches to architectural solutions on any scale.

The lectures are public and free of charge. All lectures will be held in English.

Where: Aarhus School of Architecture, Gymnastiksalen, Paradisgade 4-6, 8000 Aarhus C.
First lecture: 27. September 2018
Last lecture: 23. May 2019

Program

27 September 2018 at 15.00
The craft of architecture
Lecture by Yashar Hanstad, TYIN Architects, Trondheim, Norway.

25 October 2018 at 15.00
Rainer Mahlemäki, Lahdelma & Mahlemäki Architects, Helsinki, Finland

28 November 2018 at 17.30, (NB Navitas’ Auditorium)
Building Knowledge, Building Community
Anupama Kundoo, Anupama Kundoo Architects, India/Madrid, Spain

14 March 2019 at 15.00
Dan Stubbergaard, Cobe Architects, Copenhagen, Denmark
Read more

28 March 2019 at 13.00
Stephen Bates, Sergison Bates Architects, London/Zürich, UK/Switzerland
Read more

25 April 2019 at 15.00
Mads Bjørn Hansen, Praksis Arkitekter, Svendborg, Denmark
Read more

23 May 2019 May 15.00
Lars Juel Thiis, Cubo Arkitekter, Aarhus, Denmark
Read more

Nordic Perspectives #2 sheds light on some of the most interesting and discussed examples on recent Nordic architecture, with a few digressions to other familiar regions, presented by a handful of distinguished practicing architects from Denmark, Norway, Finland, England, Switzerland and India.

The general awareness of the qualities of Nordic architecture seems still to be growing outside the Nordic region. But within the Nordic countries, and not least architecture schools, the awareness of home-grown values tends to be eclipsed by the constant flood of global trends.

With Nordic Perspectives #2, we wish to give new breath to ideas and dreams marked by Nordic approaches to architectural solutions on any scale.

The lectures are public and free of charge. All lectures will be held in English.

Where: Aarhus School of Architecture, Gymnastiksalen, Paradisgade 4-6, 8000 Aarhus C.
First lecture: 27. September 2018
Last lecture: 23. May 2019

Program

27 September 2018 at 15.00
The craft of architecture
Lecture by Yashar Hanstad, TYIN Architects, Trondheim, Norway.

25 October 2018 at 15.00
Rainer Mahlemäki, Lahdelma & Mahlemäki Architects, Helsinki, Finland

28 November 2018 at 17.30, (NB Navitas’ Auditorium)
Building Knowledge, Building Community
Anupama Kundoo, Anupama Kundoo Architects, India/Madrid, Spain

14 March 2019 at 15.00
Dan Stubbergaard, Cobe Architects, Copenhagen, Denmark
Read more

28 March 2019 at 13.00
Stephen Bates, Sergison Bates Architects, London/Zürich, UK/Switzerland
Read more

25 April 2019 at 15.00
Mads Bjørn Hansen, Praksis Arkitekter, Svendborg, Denmark
Read more

23 May 2019 May 15.00
Lars Juel Thiis, Cubo Arkitekter, Aarhus, Denmark
Read more