Pavilion made of recycled IKEA mattresses wins Chart Architecture prize
In Copenhagen over the weekend, Chart art fair unfolded its artistic presentations and projects, yet the biennial-style festival is also gaining a reputation as a test-bed for architecture. Each year it hosts an architecture competition, this time on the topic of materiality, which sees five pavilion proposals to fruition during the fair across Chart's locations of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Charlottenborg and Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art.
Thisy year, the first prize was awarded to ‘Sultan’, a design which used repurposed, discarded IKEA mattresses as material. Architects Anne Bea Høgh Mikkelsen, Katrine Kretzschmar Nielsen, Klara Lyshøj, and Josefine Østergaard Kallehave procured every element from the innards to the exterior, wood, metal, foam, and fabric of the mattress – proving how one man's trash can really build an interesting looking structure.
‘The project allows you to play along and to imagine the presence of the people who have slept on these mattresses in the past. Sultan raises a very important concern about how hard it is to recycle things in a modern society, because of the complexity of the society we’ve come to live in,’ says jury chairman, David Zahle of BIG, who selected the project out of five finalists.
‘Furthermore, it is a strong artistic idea to use dreams of past owners to create a pavilion that allows for repurposing the materials used. IKEA is one of the biggest players in the world, and if you want your idea to really make a difference, you need partners with a big reach. So I hope IKEA comes and visits the pavilion and takes up the idea of reusing as many of their products as possible.'
Chart Director Nanna Hjortenberg sees the architecture competition, run in collaboration with Arup and Bloxhub, not only as a stepping stone for emerging Nordic architectural talent – yet also an event that could pave the way for innovation towards a more sustainable built future.
Wallpaper* Design editor Rosa Bertoli, also on the jury, praised the project for its core focus on recycling: ‘We are constantly producing things but we don’t quite know where they end up and I think that finding new purposes for objects has to become the future of architecture and design.’ The Sultan pavilion was on view from Friday 30 August until Sunday 1 September.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.
-
Tour an artistic Mexico City home by Giancarlo Valle
At an art-filled Mexico City residence, New York designer Giancarlo Valle has put his own spin on the country’s traditional craft heritage
By Dan Howarth Published
-
Art takes London: Tiffany & Co, Damien Hirst and artists take over Selfridges' windows
Four British contemporary artists celebrate Tiffany & Co's pioneering history with a series of storied window displays
By Anne Soward Published
-
Hyundai’s new Inster EV ramps up the character and tech whilst downsizing the scale
The Hyundai Inster is the company’s newest model, a compact electric SUV aimed at tech-savvy urbanites who like their cars to have a strong personality
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Shigeru Ban wins 2024 Praemium Imperiale Architecture Award
The 2024 Praemium Imperiale Architecture Award goes to Japanese architect Shigeru Ban
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
SANAA scoops 2025 Charlotte Perriand Award
The 2025 Charlotte Perriand Award has been awarded to Japanese architecture studio SANAA
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: meet the practices
In the Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2024, our latest guide to exciting, emerging practices from around the world, 20 young studios show off their projects and passion
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Meet Mast, the emerging masters of floating architecture
Danish practice Mast is featured in the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024
By Jens H Jensen Published
-
2024 RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist: the six projects that made it in
The 2024 RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist has been revealed – who made it into the running for the UK's most coveted architecture award?
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
2024 RIBA National Awards: browse the list of worthy winners
The 2024 RIBA National Awards have been announced, comprising 26 projects across the UK
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Fireworks! Colour! Brutalism! The 2024 London Festival of Architecture is here
The 2024 London Festival of Architecture unfolds, the 20th-anniversary edition signalling a month-long celebration of the capital’s built environment and beyond
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Venice Architecture Biennale 2025: a glimpse of what’s to come and Carlo Ratti's circular economy manifesto
Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 curator Carlo Ratti talks about the theme, 'Intelligens' and launches his circular economy manifesto; the first glimpses into what’s to come at the festival's launch next spring
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated