Common Space Platform. Open panel: Data, emotions, predictions? Constructing narratives about architecture’s role in the climate crisis
5.06.2025, 17:00
Place: The Warsaw Observatory of Culture (WOK), Marszałkowska 34/50, 00-647 Warszawa
Title: Data, emotions, predictions? Constructing narratives about architecture’s role in the climate crisis
Moderation: Dorota Leśniak-Rychlak (’Autoportret’ quarterly)
Panelists: Štěpán Bärtl (CAMP), Olle Lundin (ArkDes), Kika Krista Kjærside (DAC), Kacper Kępiński (NIAiU)
In the face of an escalating climate crisis, architecture is confronted with questions of responsibility, impact, and imagination. The scale of the challenges is overwhelming. But how can climate related topics be introduced into architectural discourse in ways that are not immediately dismissed as moralizing, technocratic, or catastrophic?
In this panel, curators and researchers from European architectural institutions will discuss not only architecture’s environmental responsibility, but also how to talk about it. Drawing on the experience of exhibitions and projects such as Anthropocene (NIAiU), Planet Prague (CAMP), Practice based knowledge sharing (ArkDes), and Build of Site (DAC), we will reflect on narrative strategies — based on data, emotion, or visions of the future — that help institutions engage the public in the topic of the climate crisis.
How can we speak about urgency without falling into doomism? What kind of language invites engagement rather than discouragement? The medium is the message — what role does the choice of medium (exhibition, publication, educational program) play in shaping reception?
Rather than seeking a single, definitive narrative, the panel will focus on sharing practices and ideas for how institutions can co-create a constructive climate discourse in architecture — exploring experiments and possible solutions. Presentations will be followed by an open discussion with the audience.
Panelists
Dorota Leśniak-Rychlak is an editor-in-chief of the quarterly Autoportret. A Journal of Good Space, published by the Małopolska Institute of Culture in Kraków. Founder and president of the Institute of Architecture Foundation. Curator and co-curator of numerous architectural exhibitions, including Impossible Objects – Polish Pavilion at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia and Home At Last. The Polish House During the Transition (Warsaw Under Construction Festival, 2016). Initiator and editor of publications from the canon of architectural theory and practice. As editor of Autoportret, she curated a series of issues addressing the climate crisis, such as Architecture of Microclimates, Paths of Materials, and Earth / From the Earth.
Kika Krista Kjærside works as a Program Manager at the Danish Architecture Center in Copenhagen. Kika is a graduate architect from Aarhus School of Architecture and has focused on architecture throughout her career, although she has not worked as a practicing architect. She has many years of experience in communicating architecture to the cultural sector, professionals, and international audiences. Kika returned to the Danish Architecture Center after several years at an architectural firm, first at AART Architects and then in a leading role at BIG. These positions and roles have contributed to her strong understanding and knowledge of the processes and market forces at play in the industry.
Štěpán Bärtl is a cultural manager and co-founder of the Centre for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CAMP) in Prague. He focuses on ways to connect experts and laymen and how to engage residents in their surroundings. Since 2014, he has been working at the Institute of Planning and Development, where he has led CAMP since 2017. CAMP is a multimedia gallery and community hub focused on the future of cities, with a clear emphasis on the general public, making it one of the most prominent centres of its kind in the world.
Olle Lundin is a designer, embedded in institutional design practices. Dedicated to methods for change through meaningful participation in educational and cultural institutions, he works as a Process Lead at the Think Tank of ArkDes, the Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design, in Stockholm. ArkDes is a national museum and a national authority with a government mission to enhance the understanding of and initiate discussions about the impact of architecture and design on our lives.
Kacper Kępiński is anrchitect, exhibition curator, and architecture critic. Deputy Director at the National Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning. Graduate of the Faculty of Architecture at the Krakow University of Technology. Regular contributor to the quarterly magazine Autoportret. He co-teaches architectural design classes at the Faculty of Architecture of the Brno University of Technology, focusing on inclusive housing architecture. Curator of exhibitions including “Anthropocene” and “Humanist modernity”.
Participation in the event is free of charge, but the number of places is limited. Registration is mandatory. Please use the registration form: https://forms.office.com/e/KwRSmda5Qu
Submission of the form does not constitute confirmation of participation. We will contact You by email within two working days of submission.
The event is part of a Conference summarising the international Common Space Platform project. Its aim is to strengthen international cooperation of institutions engaged in architectural culture, urban planning and promotion of knowledge of architectural heritage.
The entire Conference will be held in English.
Partners
Local partners
Supporting partners
Media partner
Project funded by the “Inspiring Culture” program of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
