VIDEO:Dorte Mandrup-Another Kind of Knowledge

Meet Danish architect Dorte Mandrup, a star in Scandinavian architecture for many years and who receives growing international attention. “There can be something missionary about being an architect and having the desire to change the world.”

This film portrait of Dorte Mandrup is a conversation that started in 2017 and lasted for four years. It opens inner and outer landscapes and has thus become a fascinating tale of the conditions and nature of architecture today. “I think it took me a long time to realize that the knowledge you have that isn’t articulated with words is as important as the written or spoken argument. There is a path to us, a form of communication that doesn’t involve words. So acknowledging that there exists a different kind of knowledge and a different argument was a huge relief to me.”

Studies in sculpture, ceramics, and medicine have influenced Dorte Mandrup’s approach to architecture, which has always been ‘hands-on’. Shape and form constitute her company’s ethos – to create aesthetically pleasing, contextually relevant spaces and invite people to engage.

Dorte Mandrup (b. 1961) graduated from the Aarhus School of Architecture, Denmark, in 1991. Eight years later, she founded her Copenhagen-based studio, where she continues to be Creative Director. As a humanist with a distinct nonconformist outlook, Dorte Mandrup is well known for her commitment to the development of the architectural practice and her frequent participation in public debates. She has won numerous awards – the latest of which are: Member of the RIBA Honours Committee 2021, Architect of the Year at ICONIC Awards 2021, Visiting Professor at Mendrisio Accademia de Architettura, Switzerland, AZ Awards 2020 for Environmental Leadership, Canada, Kunstpreis Berlin by the Academy of Arts, Chairwoman of the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award 2019. In 2018 her Icefjord Centre in Ilulissat, Greenland, was part of the curated international exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia.

Dorte Mandrup was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner.Camera: Simon Weyhe, Edited by Simon Wehye, Music: Simon Dokkedal, Sound Mix: Torsten Larsen, Sound Everest, Color Grade: Klaus Elmer, Produced by Marc-Christoph Wagner & Simon Wehye, © Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2021, Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet and C.L. Davids Fond og Samling. This film is supported by Dreyersfond og Realdania.