Dezeen School Shows: a proposal to redesign Gothenburg's harbour to support sustainable fishing is among the projects from The Royal Danish Academy.

Also featured is a project addressing the urgent need to decarbonise existing housing and a fashion proposal challenging the relationship between clothing and the body through exaggerated proportions.

The Royal Danish Academy

Institution: The Royal Danish Academy
Courses: Architecture and Design

School statement:

"In 2025, over 250 designers and architects graduated from the Royal Danish Academy. Their graduate projects are showcased in the graduation exhibition 'New Design & Architecture'. This year's exhibition reflects the graduates' view of the world – a perspective that looks in many directions.

"The exhibition addresses a wide range of agendas and within the graduation projects, you'll find aesthetic, innovative and groundbreaking proposals for the future of architecture and design.

"Below is a selection of nine graduate projects, each representing one of our international master educations. The graduate projects mark the conclusion of five years of study in architecture or design.

"Throughout their education, the students have explored, experimented and investigated their field, developing their individual expressions based on the Academy's threefold foundation of knowledge: academic research, artistic research and professional practice – three ways of discovering, inventing and creating."

Finding Home – Urban and architectural responses to early-onset dementia by Josephine Eilert Bjørkholm and Sebastian Søgaard Hjortlund Svendsen

"Denmark faces a future shortage of 15,000 nursing home spots, many of them for people with dementia. Josephine Eilert Bjørkholm and Sebastian Søgaard Svendsen explore how individuals with early-onset dementia can remain with their families and contribute to revitalising declining villages like Havnebyen in Odsherred.

"Their project includes a master plan and an idea catalogue that identifies areas for both change and preservation. They propose inclusive interventions in four key areas and suggest converting a vacant house into a dementia-friendly home.

"With thoughtful design, people with dementia can lead meaningful lives in supportive communities – benefiting both the residents and the village's long-term future."

Students: Josephine Eilert Bjørkholm and Sebastian Søgaard Hjortlund Svendsen
Course: Urbanism and Societal Change
Tutor: Jan Loerakker
Emails: jose2441[at]gmail.com and sebastian.hjortlund[at]hotmail.com

Twist structure, Twist Perspectives by Mengjie Hui

"Mengjie Hui's graduation project "Twist Structure, Twist Perspective" challenges the traditional relationship between clothing and the body through sculptural silhouettes and exaggerated proportions.

"By questioning gendered silhouettes and ideals of the female body, the project critiques societal norms and aligns with UN sustainable development goal 5: gender equality.

"Hui combines advanced design techniques with exceptional craftsmanship to present a bold and inclusive vision of fashion – one that invites reflection on how garments can shape, distort and redefine identity."

Student: Mengjie Hui
Course: Fashion, Clothing and Textiles – New Landscapes for Change
Tutor: Marcus Aminaka Wilmont
Email: mengjiehui789[at]gmail.com

Fragments of Børsen by Gabriela Sofia Valenzuela-Luczynska

"In 2024, one of Copenhagen's most iconic buildings, Børsen, caught fire. Fragments of Børsen is a response to the debate on cultural reconstruction that followed the event.

"The project by Gabriela Sofia Valenzuela-Luczynska is rooted in the field of graphic communication and explores how reconstruction can be approached as a practice of data visualisation.

"It culminates in three spatial and visual proposals, each based on different visual documentation of Børsen after the fire, examining how absence, damage and interpretation can inform a visual understanding of reconstruction as both process and concept."

Student: Gabriela Sofia Valenzuela-Luczynska
Course: Graphic Communication Design
Tutor: Rasmus Spanggaard Troelsen
Email: gabrielavluczynska[at]gmail.com

Inside Out: rethinking energy renovations by Alejandro Mata Zenteno and Or Hoyben

"Alejandro Mata Zenteno and Or Hoyben propose a holistic strategy for energy renovation, addressing the urgent need to decarbonise existing housing.

"Focusing on Denmark's parcel houses - 41 per cent of the national housing stock – the project reimagines homes as adaptable systems, aligning energy efficiency with material sufficiency through spatial design.

"Using architectural and systemic thinking, Mata and Hoyben propose an intervention that reduces heated space and introduces a flexible way of living – living smaller during colder months, expanding in warmer seasons and generating new spatial qualities within the home."

Student: Alejandro Mata Zenteno and Or Hoyben
Course: Strategic Design and Entrepreneurship – Architecture, Design and Business
Tutor: Josep Cayuelas Mateu
Email: alejandromatazeno[at]gmail.com and oharchtlv[at]gmail.com

Chair S and Chair L by Niklas Fiedler

"Niklas Fiedler's design explores how reinforced structure and optimised material use can add value to a chair.

"The joints act as defining elements – articulating the chair's character and expressing the tectonic synergy between form, material and technology.

"Restrained dynamics shape a strong silhouette, creating a harmonious family of side and lounge chairs united by a shared structural logic.

"By challenging the structure of the traditional wooden chair, Fiedler addresses its weak points and develops a refined joint that connects the elements and strengthens the overall construction."

Student: Niklas Fiedler
Course: Furniture Design – Products, Materials and Contexts
Tutor: Nicolai de Gier
Email: info[at]niklasfiedler.de

Path independence: Wood futures in Kronoberg county by Alex Ianchenko

"Alex Ianchenko's project explores the intersection of ecology, land use and industry in southern Sweden, centred on a family-owned sawmill.

"The project proposes architecture as a mediator between conflicting perspectives – environmentalists and forest industry workers – through two experimental spaces: a non-compliant wood workshop that reimagines supply chains for undervalued timber and a nature centre fostering dialogue among sawmill employees, biologists and foresters.

"By engaging an overlooked industrial site, the project challenges dominant 'us versus them' narratives and highlights architecture's potential to catalyse new futures for forested landscapes.

"Ianchenko asks: how can architecture break echo chambers and foster transformative relationships through the wood supply chain?"

Student: Alex Ianchenko
Course: Political Architecture: Critical Sustainability
Tutor: Olympia Nouska
Email: alex.ianchenko[at]outlook.com

Museum of Martime Remains by Aleksandar Petyov Donov

"Aleksandar Petyov Donov's project transforms decommissioned oil rig infrastructure in Aberdeen's harbour into a civic maritime museum.

"Critiquing Western recycling practices that externalise harm to the Global South, the design promotes local reuse and cultural continuity.

"Using floating pontoons and rig components, the museum integrates galleries, workshops, co-working spaces and public amenities. Clad in reclaimed materials, it fuses industrial heritage with civic renewal.

"The project redefines the museum as an active, sustainable public space – an architectural response to environmental and social challenges embedded in Scotland's maritime and energy legacy."

Student: Aleksandar Petyov Donov
Course: Architecture and Extreme Environments
Tutor: David Garcia
Email: donovaleksandar[at]gmail.com

Heart of Gothenburg - Revitalising Gothenburg Fish Harbour through architecture by Emma Ejeskär and Carolina Ivarsson

"This project proposes an alternative vision for Gothenburg fish harbour – one rooted in preservation rather than expansion.

"Instead of relocating, Emma Ejeskär and Carolina Ivarsson explore how small-scale, site-specific architecture can support sustainable fishing and community life.

"Through a bottom-up approach, the team has developed spatial strategies based on local observations and dialogue.

"The proposal, 'Kajen', introduces a family of structures – Båken, Lotshuset, Bodar and Vakare – each with its own social, functional and symbolic role.

"By working with what already exists, the design promotes degrowth, resilience and a renewed connection between city and sea."

Students: Emma Ejeskär and Carolina Ivarsson
Course: Spatial Design
Tutor: Nicholas Thomas Lee
Email: emmaejeskar[at]gmail.com and carivarsson[at]gmail.com

Living with stormwater – a data driven approach to building in a future with increased rainfall by Phillip Kruse McKay

"The need for climate adaptation is growing as climate change leads to increased rainfall. Existing solutions are often retrofitted to suit the architecture already in place.

"In Living with Stormwater, Phillip McKay explores how data-driven design can turn rainwater from a threat into a resource – and how architecture can add value to both culture and environment.

"Using a Danish park as a case study, McKay tested how new architectural models can respond to cloudbursts, storm surges and rising groundwater.

"Three typologies were developed through simulation and a prototype of an agent-based digital tool that uses site-specific data to suggest their optimal placement."

Student: Phillip Kruse McKay
Course: Computation in Architecture
Tutor: Paul Nicholas
Email: phillip.kruse.mckay[at]gmail.com

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and The Royal Danish Academy. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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