The inaugural Copenhagen Architecture Biennial opened its doors on September 18, running through October 19 under the compelling theme "Slow Down." Organized by Copenhagen Architecture Forum (CAFx), this new international platform represents an evolution from the city's previous annual festival into a comprehensive biennial dedicated to architectural dialogue and global exchange. Under the leadership of Josephine Michau, the event creates essential space for reflection on architecture's fundamental role in shaping both societies and the environment we inhabit.

The carefully chosen theme "Slow Down" invites participants and visitors to thoughtfully reconsider the increasingly rapid pace of transformation in our built environment, responding directly to mounting global pressures including accelerated urbanization, excessive resource consumption, and the urgent challenges of climate change. During the opening days, ArchDaily announced the highly anticipated 2025 Next Practices Awards, while throughout the month-long event, the Biennial presents an impressive array of more than 250 events ranging from thought-provoking exhibitions and expert talks to innovative performances and guided architectural tours.

The event showcases remarkable contributions from prominent Danish practices, including Adept with their "Fast City/Slow Architecture" project and Lendager with their groundbreaking "Living Lab" initiative. These local talents are joined by distinguished international participants such as the renowned Atelier Bow-Wow and acclaimed architect Rem Koolhaas, creating a truly global dialogue about contemporary architectural practice.

Among the event's most compelling attractions are the "Slow Pavilions," installations that deliberately prioritize slowness over spectacle, ecological consciousness over pure efficiency, and careful attention over mindless consumption. The "Barn Again" pavilion by Tom Svilans and THISS Studio stands as a prime example, reimagining the traditional Norwegian barn through contemporary design principles. Constructed entirely from reclaimed timber elements salvaged from a disused barn, the structure bears the weathered surfaces and traces of past use, positioned at Gammel Strand to invite urban pause and contemplation.

The pavilion extends the material value chain by breathing new life into aged wood, with its familiar vernacular form reinterpreted through contemporary joinery techniques and precision machine cuts. This creates a meaningful dialogue between time-honored craft traditions and modern fabrication methods. The experience of slowness is further enhanced through sophisticated sensory design, featuring three suspended Censer incense burners by British designer Edward John Milton, developed in collaboration with B Corp skincare brand People Care Planet Care, which infuse the space with custom fragrances to create a calm and immersive atmosphere.

"Inside Out, Downside Up" by Slaatto Morsbøl represents the second of the two Slow Pavilions, built primarily from reused materials as a spatial response to the "Slow Down" theme. Situated at Søren Kierkegaards Plads, surrounded by the striking juxtaposition of historic brick warehouses, contemporary metal-and-glass buildings, and a broad cobblestone plaza beside the canal, the pavilion engages meaningfully with its immediate context while emphasizing slowness as both a physical and emotional recalibration.

The "Slow Down" exhibition itself presents a considered response to our current era defined by urgency, acceleration, and relentless productivity. Spread across two significant venues – Halmtorvet 27 in Copenhagen and the Form/Design Center in Malmö – the exhibition bridges Denmark and Sweden while positioning architecture as a medium for observation, restraint, and careful recalibration rather than speed or mere spectacle. Through four distinct thematic frameworks – Forensic, Material, Archaic, and Political – the Copenhagen presentation traces the evolving relationships between architecture, time, matter, and meaning.

Thoravej 29 by Pihlmann Architects demonstrates remarkable adaptive reuse, reimagining a 1967 industrial building in northwestern Copenhagen through a process that retains and repurposes an impressive 95% of its original materials. Slabs are ingeniously tilted into stairways, facades become pavement, and doors are transformed into functional furniture, with each component treated as a valuable resource regardless of how overlooked it might typically be.

"Chapel Retold" represents a temporary but profound transformation of a 1954 funeral chapel and garden at Frederiksberg Hospital in Copenhagen, created by a collaborative group of Danish architects, artists, and artisans. The project emphasizes minimal intervention, working respectfully with the building's existing qualities while adding as little as possible, reflecting a broader architectural approach that prioritizes thoughtful adaptation over unnecessary demolition.

The Clay Pavilion, developed by the Royal Danish Academy under Isak Worre Foged's leadership, explores the remarkable potential of unfired clay tiles sourced directly from Danish fields to create both functional and expressive architectural elements. This innovative approach reinterprets clay in its natural, unburned state, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional brickwork while maintaining structural integrity and desirable thermal properties through compression combined with biogenic fibers like hay and grass. The ongoing transformation of Nikolaj Kunsthal by Morten Emil Engel demonstrates how historic structures can be sensitively reimagined for contemporary use, balancing careful restoration of original architectural features with thoughtful introduction of modern elements to create spaces that honor the past while embracing new functions.