Dorte Mandrup: “A dialogue between place and form”

Situated on the periphery of the UNESCO Protected Site at Kangia Icefjord, the Ilulissat Icefjord Centre blends effortlessly into the expansive landscape. For the Danish architect Dorte Mandrup, this apparently simple building represents the largest challenge she has faced to date.

In a location like the Arctic, it is essential to understand the wind, snow and ice, and the incredible breadth of the landscape. Designing a building here requires sensitivity and a deep knowledge of the context. The “(im)material” conditions of a location become the driving force for the design. In her talk, Mandrup discusses the importance of context in her work — from the tawny marshes of the Wadden Sea to the astonishing expanses of the Arctic and the mythical landscape in the Norwegian Sea. Alongside having completed multiple award-winning buildings, her work includes sitting on international juries, teaching and curatorial activities.

Lecture: Dorte Mandrup, founder and creative director of Dorte Mandrup architects, Copenhagen

Moderated by: Maik Novotny, architecture journalist

An event in cooperation with the Institute of Urban Design and Landscape Architecture at the TU Wien