Let's Talk Architecture – Details, episodes & analysis

Eighteen years, a 14-metre-deep crater, a rebuilt brick façade, and a glass dome set to redefine Copenhagen's skyline Denmark's new Natural History Museum is almost ready. 

In this episode, Michael Booth meets architect Claus Pryds, who was barely out of architecture school when he unexpectedly won the competition for the country's next great museum. What followed was a marathon of design, engineering and sheer perseverance that stretched across nearly two decades. 

Michael and Claus dive into the wild story behind the museum: the setbacks, the breakthroughs, the impossible holes in the ground — and the thrill of watching a once-in-a-lifetime project finally rise to the surface. Opening in 2027, the museum will feature new worlds dedicated to Danish nature and Greenland and rumoured to have everything from dinosaurs to a Blue Whale skeleton. 

Guest:

• Claus Pryds

Host: 

• Michael Booth 

Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios. 

Can architecture help us create a future where both humans and nature can thrive? And is it possible to truly strengthen biodiversity in big cities – or are we just creating small, isolated pockets of green? 

In this episode, Michael Booth meets ecologist, biodiversity developer and founder of Oiko, Kristine Kjørup Rasmussen. Together they explore Copenhagen's Nordhavn district – from concrete cityscapes to wild wastelands – to see how biodiversity can be measured, protected, and even enhanced in the midst of urban development. 

• Guest: Kristine Kjørup Rasmussen, ecologist and founder of Oiko 

• Host: Michael Booth 

Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios. 

The Danes are among the least religious people in the world, with only 2.4% attending church weekly. So why are new churches still being built? And what does it take to design a religious space that meets the needs of the 21st century? 

In this episode of Let's Talk Architecture, host Michael Booth visits the striking Trekroner Church, completed in 2019 by Rørbæk og Møller Arkitekter. Booth speaks with architects Nicolai Overgaard and Irina Maksimovich about this innovative building, designed not just for worship, but also for contemplation and community.

Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios. 

The Danish harbour town of Svendborg, like many cities, has faced severe storm surges and pluvial flooding in recent years. How can towns like Svendborg adapt to the increasing threat of flooding caused by climate change? And could learning to live with regular, controlled flooding – rather than fighting it – be the answer? 

This is part two of Let's Talk Architecture's deep dive into how Danish architects and planners are addressing the water-related challenges of climate change.  

In this episode, host Michael Booth speaks with architect Anna Als Nielsen from Svendborg Municipality about the town's innovative response. Instead of investing in costly sea walls and flood barriers, Svendborg is embracing a new approach: allowing controlled flooding in specific areas and transforming them into attractive recreational spaces. 

Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios. 

Catastrophic floods in recent years have highlighted the urgent water-related impacts of climate change, pushing it to the top of the global agenda. While much attention has been paid to rising temperatures, flooding poses an immediate and critical threat to millions worldwide. 

So, how do we design urban spaces to handle increasing volumes of water? Can we learn to work with nature rather than against it, and even enhance urban life in the process? 

In this episode of Let's Talk Architecture, host Michael Booth meets Rikke Juul Gram, creative director and partner at the Danish landscape architecture firm Schønherr. Together, they visit Schønherr's recent project in Copenhagen, Karens Minde Aksen - a space designed not only to manage floodwaters but also to serve as a beautiful, functional community area. Rikke shares her insights into why embracing water could be the key to building resilient, sustainable cities. 

Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center, with sound edits by Munck Studios.

Mette Mechlenborg, senior researcher at Aalborg University, is the co-author of a new study on life in Danish high-rise residential buildings—the first of its kind in over fifty years. This long gap is partly due to Denmark's historical reluctance to embrace high-rise living, especially for families. However, the landscape is shifting, with several tall towers now rising near Copenhagen's city center and more on the way. So, what has changed since the last study? 

In this episode of Let's Talk Architecture, host Michael Booth meets Mette at Nordbro in Nørrebro, one of the buildings featured in her research. Together, they explore the qualities of high-rise living and ask the question: Can Danish families truly live happy and fulfilling lives 100 metres above the ground? 

Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by the Danish Architecture Center.

How do we decide which buildings are worth preserving? And will the climate crisis reshape our answer to this question? 

In this episode of Let's Talk Architecture, host Michael Booth joins Kristoffer Lindhardt Weiss, CEO of The Danish Architectural Press, for an architectural tour of Copenhagen - from the iconic yet controversial Palads Cinema to Arne Jacobsen's Modernist SAS Royal Hotel. 

Together they explore the landscape of architectural preservation, and ask: Could sustainable preservation become the future of urban development? 

Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by the Danish Architecture Center with sound edits by Munck Studios.

How can architecture transform the experience of healthcare for children? Can design elements like colors, materials, shapes, and daylight even help improve the young patients' lives? 

Denmark is about to get its first purpose-built children's hospital, Børneriget, which is scheduled to open in 2026 in central Copenhagen. Børneriget aims to redefine pediatric healthcare with its unique "finger plan" layout, focusing on creating a welcoming and safe environment through thoughtful design. But how can these elements enhance patient well-being and improve the hospital experience? 

In this episode of Let's Talk Architecture, host Michael Booth explores the design of Børneriget with lead architect, Stig Gothelf, senior partner at 3XN, and My Lunsjö, Associate and Behavioral Specialist at sister company GXN. 

Together they dive into the research behind their design choices, discussing how aspects like color schemes and views of nature are intended to reduce stress and support healing.  

Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by the Danish Architecture Center, with sound edits by Munck Studios.

How can you create more sustainable, affordable, and inclusive housing if you also happen to live in a capitalist society? And can you even exploit the capitalist system to create a better world? 

Home.Earth might have an answer. As a new and rather radical real estate company, Home.Earth is doing things differently: The company not only builds low-emission, high-quality housing – they also take care of finding tenants, manage the properties afterwards and give tenants a share of their profit.  

The aim of taking care of the building throughout its entire lifespan, rather than developing for a quick return of investments, is to create business cases, where the planetary agenda is aligned with the financial agenda. But what does it take to make good business within the planetary boundaries? 

In this episode, Michael Booth visits Home.earth's head office in Amager to meet its co-founder Rasmus Juul-Nyholm and to hear about Home.Earth's environmentally and economically sustainable case.

Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center, with sound edits by Munck Studios.

The term '15 Minutes City' was coined in 2016 to describe a locally oriented urban design strategy. Shops, healthcare, education, work, and entertainment – all should be accessible within a 15 minutes' walk or bike ride from your home. The aim is to create a people-centered urban development that decentralizes to create more lively local neighborhoods. 

The concept is already being implemented in cities across the world – from Paris, Madrid, and Copenhagen to Shanghai and Bogotá. But what are the benefits of this model? How can it help reduce the cities' carbon footprint? And why has it recently been subject to right wing misinformation and conspiracy theories, claiming that the concept is a 'totalitarian control experiment'? 

In this episode, hos Michael Booth meets the Executive Director of global mayoral network, C40 Cities, Mark Watts. Mark Watts shares how the C40 Cities are incorporating the principles of the 15 minutes city with transformative success. 

Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center.