AAI Lecture: UCD Urban Design Masterclass – Mads Birgens

Mads Birgens is a trained architect from the School of Architecture in Aarhus, Denmark. He gained early experience working for BIG and OMA, before he joined the beginning of Cobe in 2006. Today Mads works as Head of Urbanism, and is responsible for driving the professional development of urban and strategic planning at Cobe. Mads has a visionary and future-oriented focus, and in addition to following a number of projects on a daily basis, he works within a cross disciplinary team of Urbanism, Landscape and Architecture, strengthening innovation and sustainability in the creative process and early phase design at Cobe.

He has accumulated a unique experience in strategic planning and urban design through his work at Cobe. From leading competitions like Nordhavnen, Nørreport Station and North Campus in Copenhagen, to working as Project Director overseeing design development and taking responsibility of a large number of projects and clients in the Nordic Region. Ranging from Deutzer Hafen in Cologne, Nyhavna in Trondheim, Science Village in Lund Sweeden, Høje Taastrup C in Copenhagen among others.

Based in Copenhagen, Cobe has played a major role in the transformation of the Danish capital into a bustling, democratic city designed for living. Spend an hour walking through Copenhagen, and it’s likely you will run into a building or urban space touched by Cobe – from metro stations and bicycle paths, green urban spaces and central squares to transformed industrial areas, seaside promenades and buildings for living, culture and work.

In this lecture, Mads will share his insight into Cobe’s urban design projects in Copenhagen, looking at how they have transformed the city at a number of scales.