We are proud to present our local version of S AM Swiss Architecture Museum's brilliant exhibition in Basel, introducing the thinking and practices of a new generation of Japanese architects and urbanists that creatively “make do” with limited resources, with found materials, or with existing spaces.

Make Do With Now introduces the thinking and projects of a new generation of architects and urban practitioners working in Japan today. Born between the mid-1970s and mid-1990s, the architects featured in the exhibition largely entered professional practice following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster. This is a generation that must grapple with a range of urgent problems currently facing the country, including a declining, graying population and an emptying countryside; the proliferation of vacant houses across the nation; profit-driven urban development, mostly without the involvement of architects; a stagnant economy; and, of course, the global climate crisis. The exhibition both challenges Western stereotypes of Japanese architecture and invites us to learn from Japan in new ways and includes examples of new Danish architecture in line with the Japanese ‘renovation generation’.

First, CAFx’ director Josephine Michau will welcome you to Copenhagen Architecture Festival’s localities in a radically transformed bank building on Halmtorvet 27, adding a ‘meta layer’ to the content of the exhibition. Then, the curator, Yuma Shinohara, and the director of Swiss Architecture in Basel, Andreas Ruby, will give an introduction to the exhibition and its background. Lastly, you will have the chance to see the exhibition and grab a drink with your friends and colleagues.

Free of charge - just come! Free drinks are served.

Credits

Curator: Yuma Shinohara, Films: Studio GROSS, Photography: Go Itami, Scenography: Yusuke Seki, Exhibition Graphic Design: 75W / Tilmann S. Wendelstein.

For the danish adaption, Photography: Hampus Berndtson.

The exhibition at CAFx Halmtorvet 27 is adapted by CAFx team: Josephine Michau, Søren Nørkjær Bang, Ida Willadsen Bang Kjeldsen, Valeria Granillo, Alexandra Wedderkopp Emelianov.

The Exhibition Project is Supported by

Dreyers Fond, Realdania, Statens Kunstfond, and the Municipality of Copenhagen.

Opening Hours and Admission

The opening of the exhibition is free of charge. Free drinks will be served.

The window exhibition can be experienced 24/7, free of charge.

If you want to know more about the exhibition, you are welcome to drop by our space at Halmtorvet 27. It is open to the public every Friday from 13:00 to 17:00.

Admission to the space is 30 DKK; it is free for members of CAFx Community.

Public Program

‍6 October 16:00–19:00
Exhibition Opening: Make Do with Now – Meet the Curators and Drinks

‍CAFx invites you to the opening of the exhibition Make Do with Now: New Directions in Japanese Architecture with drinks and introductions by the curators from Swiss Architecture Museum. ‍

13 October 18:00–00:00
Kulturnatten: Generation Transformation‍

An evening of transformation with Pihlmann Architects.‍

25 October 16:00–17:00
Renovation 2.0: Site visit to Ørsteds Haver with LOKAL‍

Join the architectural office LOKAL for a site visit to their prize-winning renovation of the façade of Ørsteds Haver in Frederiksberg, taking the renovation of a 1960s 'eyesore' building to a new level.‍

26 October 16:30–18:30
Japanese Architecture between Tradition and Transformation‍

How does the ‘Generation Renovation’ of younger Japanese offices relate to the traditions and history of Japanese architecture? ‍

2 November 16:30–18:30
Salon Transformation: New Values of a New Generation in Danish Architecture ‍

Join us for an exploration of how younger Danish architects make do with now, transforming and renovating the existing structures rather than making grand gestures from scratch. ‍

16 November 16:30–18:30
‍Architectural potentials in a resource perspective - Panum & Kappel studio visit and lecture‍

The young architectural office Panum & Kappel invites you to a studio visit at their Vesterbro-based office, where they will tell about their circular construction principles, showing models of radical transformation experiments exhibited at Utzon Centre's recent Super Danish exhibition.