What would happen if we dared to visualise a future scenario – not as science fiction, but as tangible, research-based proposals for new ways of living, dwelling, and thinking?

The Imagining the Future exhibition presents 29 projects by architects and designers. The projects use current challenges and possibilities as their point of departure: new materials, new ways of dwelling and providing ourselves with shelter, new ways of envisaging community, and sustainability.

Each project is an independent narrative, but in the aggregate, they point towards a future where human needs are put on an equal footing with planetary needs. For instance, is it possible for a dwelling to include species other than human beings? And how can technology and design help us envisage a future still unknown to us, but which is fit for the whole planet and its living beings?

In Imagining the Future, designers and architects depict the part they play in shaping the future by examining the present. Keeping in mind our common culture and identity, the exhibition features projects that make the changes in the future attractive. Design and architecture are not only about function, but also involve fostering meaningful ideas through aesthetics, user involvement, and local anchoring. In brief: to understand human needs and reflect this. The exhibition includes projects by researchers, educators, and students at the Royal Danish Academy. The projects encourage the solutions for the future to grow in an interplay of research, practice, and artistic methodology.

"Imagining the Future is about giving form to ideas and hope for the future,"

says Dean Mathilde Aggebo. "When architects and designers envision new ways of living and dwelling, they don’t just create concrete solutions – they also create images of what a balanced society might look like."

In a time of great change and global challenges, we need shared visions of a future we can relate to and identify with. Especially now, Dean Aggebo believes, this is highly relevant.

"We are at a crossroads where the future can sometimes be hard to imagine, but that’s something architects and designers are particularly good at. In the exhibition, you’ll find tangible solutions, as well as critical reflections on the present."