On September 24 at 19:00, the National Institute of Architecture in Kaunas will host a lecture and conversation with Danish architect Kim Lenschow titled “New Materials, New Meanings?”. The founder of Copenhagen-based Office Kim Lenschow focuses his practice on materiality, the transformation of existing buildings, reuse, and architectural approaches with a smaller ecological footprint.
In Lenschow’s architecture, materials are not simply a matter of construction or finish. They become a way of addressing place, time, production processes, the layers of a building, and our relationship with the environment. After graduating from the Royal Danish Academy in 2014, he co-founded Lenschow & Pihlmann with Søren Thirup Pihlmann and today continues his work through a practice under his own name.
In the lecture, Lenschow will consider why it is important to rethink the meaning of materials in architecture and how this perspective can change the way we build. He will present recent projects and research ranging from experiments with wood-processing by-products to a small summer house in a forest setting and the interior of a café in Copenhagen. In these projects, materials, structures, technical systems, and reused elements become visible architectural content.
Experiments at 1:1 scale are an important part of Lenschow’s working method, ranging from individual joints and pieces of furniture to entire buildings. Through them, ordinary and sometimes even banal materials are given new life, aesthetic value, and the potential to be used again. In 2024, the Danish Arts Foundation awarded his practice, highlighting this distinctive approach to architecture grounded in materiality and time.
The lecture will be held in English.
September 24, 2026, 19:00
National Institute of Architecture
Kęstučio g. 19-3, Kaunas
Partner – Lithuanian Culture Institute.
