Course General Description

Political Architecture is our object and our concern. It is a question and a statement in one. If politics is about the governing of society and beyond, including the obtaining, prioritization and allocation of resources and the strategizing of power relations, then political architecture begins with architecture’s complicates relationship with such regulations and distributions, that is, with its role in enforcing and implementing a particular political order. Yet, what architecture can do politically reaches beyond deliberate politics. Specifically, we ask what architecture does and can do in regions on the planet where critical attention toward matters of sustainability, resilience and development are more urgent than elsewhere. Thus, Critical Sustainability recognizes an urgent political task: to question the currently prevailing doctrines of architectural sustainability and to develop intellectually probing and architecturally daring alternatives.

School General Description

KADK wishes to be internationally recognised as the leading Nordic academy within the fields of architecture, design and conservation. Its mission is to produce graduates armed with the knowledge to shape our future, society and cultural heritage, trained with a unique focus on research, practice and artistic methods. KADK’s graduates should be characterised by their awareness of how a special Nordic approach to form can be developed and transformed into new contexts. KADK wants its graduates to enter the world with analytical, methodological and artistic skills, which empower them to create, transform and preserve the society and culture of tomorrow. The curriculum is based on a combination of theory and practice. A substantial part of the teaching takes place at the drawing board and in workshops, as well as joint presentations and academic seminars between small units of teachers and students. In line with KADK's international vision, our students and staff develop their skills in constant dialogue with the international environment, ensuring that the quality of our activities is continuously improving.