On the occasion of the national Day of Architecture on 30 September 2011 the Danish Network for Young Planners (Netværk for yngre planlæggere) invited Failed Architecture to Copenhagen.  Together with students, young architects and planners and local residents we discussed criteria (‘benchmarks’) for quality and failure in modernist housing estates in an international East/West perspective.

To make the event site-specific, Scandinavia’s second tallest housing complex Domus Vista (read more below) framed our “walkshop” and debate. Different stakeholders, marking the problem field, met at the walkshop in Domus Vista’s high-rise and surroundings. We invited planners, residents, architects, journalists, politicians, etc. to test methods.
The walkshop (working while walking) opened up the debate in Domus Vista’s bankruptcy-threatened community-cum-shopping centre. International and Danish experts presented their views on why housing estates from the post-war period are often regarded as failures and how this affects urban planning and regeneration. The Danish situation was put into perspective by experiences from the Balkans and Holland.
Programme September 30 @ Domus Vista (in English) 
16.00 – 16.15 – Introduction to the day’s programme, Failed Architecture and Domus Vista.
16.15 – 17.00 – Experimental walkshop, testing methods in Domus Vista and surroundings.
17.00 – 17.15 – Short break
17.15 – 17.45 – Presentation of questions and conclusions, produced by the walkshop. The different ‘actor groups’ present their viewpoints for each other and the experts.
17.45 – 18.00 – Short break
18.00 – 18.45 – Debate with presentations by Ljubo Georgiev (Dutch/Bulgarian architect), Claus Bech-Danielsen (Head of Research at Centre of Housing Research, Professor mso, ph.d. Architect MAA at Danish Building Research Institute), Niels Bjørn (urbanist) and Signe Sophie Bøggild (architectural historian). Michiel van Iersel (curator and founder of Failed Architecture) leads the discussion.
18.45 – 19.30 – Open mic, moderated by Michiel van Iersel.
19.45 – 22.00 – Balkan beats and refreshments.

Where?
Domus Vista, Nordens Plads 4 2000 Frederiksberg Copenhagen.
Click here to see Domus Vista on the map.

More about the venue: Domus Vista 
Domus Vista is located in Copenhagen at Roskildevej in Frederiksberg and is with its 102 metres the tallest residential structure in Denmark and the second tallest residential building in Scandinavia. The tallest building is Turning Torso in Malmø, which was completed in 2005.The building was designed by architect Ole Hagen and was completed in 1969. It was built by builder Harald Simonsen, who also took part in the construction of Hostrups Have in Frederiksberg. Domus Vista has 30 floors and 470 apartments. The lower floors were originally a hotel with restaurant, banquet facilities and living rooms. The hotel was closed in early 1970s. Instead, the living room part of the building is now housing a shopping centre and a library. (Source: Wikipedia)