Two projects celebrated in FastCompany's World Changing Ideas Awards
We're proud to have both a winner and a finalist in FastCompany's 2021 edition of the World Changing Ideas Awards program.
Each year, FastCompany honors innovative concepts, designs, and companies from across industries and geographies for their world-changing potential. This year, the magazine is recognizing works in 34 categories – narrowed from over 3,000 entries. We’re proud to have two of our projects included in their list of honorees: our Fælledby Quarter project, winner in the Urban Design category, and our REBUS concept, a finalist in the architecture section.
Fælledby, a design for an all-timber neighborhood in the center of Copenhagen, proposes a new model for collective living in which nature and urban life are tightly bound. The project sets a high standard for future urban projects, and has previously been called one of “three timber buildings (that) represent the future of green architecture.”
“For us, Fælledby represents a paradigm shift; we really are collectively at the tipping point of a timber revolution,” says Signe Kongebro, Henning Larsen’s Global Design Director for Urbanism + Landscape. “70% of the planet’s population is expected to live in cities by 2050. In order to ensure the conservation of nature, it is crucial that the relationship between city and nature is both/and, not either/or. Fælledby is a serious bid on that proposition, and a commitment to making a place where nature is a defining element in its every aspect.”
“From the beginning, we have had very high ambitions for Fælledby as a neighborhood based on respect for the surrounding nature and wood as the primary building material. Fælledby presents a new and visionary example on how sustainable and climate-friendly cities of the future can be developed, and shows us how neighborhoods, to an even greater extent, can create coexistence between people and nature, says Anne Skovbro, CEO of By & Havn.
”We are delighted that Fælledby has received international acclaim for Urban Design, as it is a unique project. High quality sustainable housing and a variety of housing forms will not only make Fælledby a new and exciting urban area in interaction with the surrounding nature, but will also foster diversity. The rent will be affordable for families with middle incomes and will provide our members with attractive long term returns”, says Torben Möger Pedersen, CEO of PensionDanmark.
We are also proud to have our REBUS project, recognized as a finalist in the architecture category. The research project has brought together a range of actors and stakeholders in the construction industry to produce adaptive and innovative building solutions.
“Renovating, rather than building new facades - or even entirely new buildings – is by far the most sustainable and least carbon intensive building approach,” says Martin Vraa Nielsen, Henning Larsen project leader. “REBUS’ prefabricated panels can be quickly, easily, and cheaply attached to existing building facades and does not require residents to move out of their homes for a lengthy renovation period.”
Read more about Fælledby on FastCompany here.
Read more about REBUS the other Architecture finalists on FastCompany here.