Kloge Huse / Ingenious Houses turns to Denmark's historic farmsteads and vernacular buildings to ask a pointed question: what can pre-industrial ways of building and living teach contemporary audiences about sustainable practice?
About This Book
Rooted in the Open Air Museum in Lyngby, Denmark, this book investigates how museums can become active sites for communicating sustainability — not as abstract principle, but through the material reality of historic buildings. The authors examine site-specific architecture, biogenic materials, traditional building methods, and living craft traditions, drawing on the museum's collection of houses and farmsteads as a pedagogical resource. It is a work that speaks directly to architects, heritage practitioners, and educators grappling with how vernacular building knowledge might inform more environmentally aware design and construction today. Contributors Anne Eriksen, Simon Kirk, David Leatherbarrow, and Connie Svabo extend the discussion across history, philosophy, and communication theory.
Key Features
- 220 pages of scholarly and visual exploration of vernacular architecture, biogenic materials, and sustainable building methods
- Authors: N. Bo Andersen, T. Stranbygaard Jessen, V. Boye Julebæk, and A. Elisabeth Warring; with contributions by Anne Eriksen, Simon Kirk, David Leatherbarrow, and Connie Svabo
- Case studies drawn from the historic houses and farmsteads at the Open Air Museum, Lyngby, Denmark
- Published by The Architectural Publisher B
What You'll Discover
- How open-air museums can function as living laboratories for communicating sustainability to broad public audiences
- The role of biogenic materials and traditional craftsmanship in historic Danish vernacular building — and their relevance to contemporary construction
- Theoretical frameworks for understanding site-specific architecture as both cultural heritage and environmental argument
- How past ways of building and inhabiting land can be translated into inspiration for more environmentally conscious practice today
About the Author
The book is co-authored by Nicolai Bo Andersen, Tilde Stranbygaard Jessen, Victor Boye Julebæk, and Anette Elisabeth Warring, whose combined work centres on architecture, museum communication, and sustainability. [Details available upon request]
Specifications
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 220
- Dimensions: 16 x 25 cm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9788792700537
- Publisher: The Architectural Publisher B
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Architects and designers interested in vernacular building traditions, museum and heritage professionals developing sustainability programmes, and researchers working at the intersection of material culture, craft, and environmental communication.