Bjarke Ingels
Founding Partner, BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, Denmark/USA
Last updated: March 27, 2024 New York, USA / Copenhagen, Denmark
Bjarke Ingels is Founding Partner of BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group based in Copehagen, New York, London and Barcelona, and winner of the Global Holcim Awards 2015 Bronze for “The Dryline: Urban flood protection infrastructure, New York”. The project proposes a protective ribbon in Southern Manhattan using a series of raised berms and other measures to create public spaces along the water’s edge, forming a large-scale integrated flood protection system.
He was a keynote speaker and presented the case study “Hedonistic sustainability” in the workshop Manage complexity - With integral solutions to an economy of means at the 3rd Holcim Forum 2010 in Mexico City.
Bjarke Ingels founded BIG in 2005. Through a series of commissions won in design and architectural competitions, BIG quickly attained international recognition. The architectural practice’s work combines astute analysis, light-hearted experimentation, social responsibility, and humor. Through careful analysis of various parameters from local culture and climate, ever-changing patterns of contemporary life, to the ebbs and flows of the global economy, he believes in the idea of information-driven-design as the driving force for his design process.
Bjarke Ingels studied architecture at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen and the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura in Barcelona, receiving his diploma in 1998. As a 3rd year student, he set up his first practice and won his first competition. From 1998-2001 he worked for the Office of Metropolitan Architecture, founded by Rem Koolhaas in Rotterdam. He was co-founder of the architectural firm PLOT Architects in 2001.
The sustainable city or sustainable building is not only the right thing to do for the environment, but it’s also the much more enjoyable and desirable thing to do for the people that live with it and around it. Bjarke Ingels
He was awarded the European Prize for Architecture (2010), the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale (2004) for the Stavanger Concert House, and the Forum AID Award for the VM Houses (2005). He was appointed Knight of the French Order Arts et Lettres (2019) and the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Dannebrog (2018). He was named an Honorary Fellow by the American Institute of Architects (2020), the Royal Institute of British Architects (2015) and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (2014).
The Mountain, a concept for providing housing and parking space in Ørestad, received numerous awards including the World Architecture Festival Housing Award, Forum Aid Award and the MIPIM Residential Development Award. He was made an ‘Honorary Fellow’ by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for 2016, for his contribution to world architecture. He was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIME Magazine (2016).
Bjarke Ingels Group received an Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2016) together with Superflex and Topotek 1 for Superkilen in Copenhagen, Denmark. Superkilen provides a meeting place for residents of Denmark’s most ethnically diverse neighborhood and an attraction for the rest of the city, this project was approached as a giant exhibition of global urban best practice.
Bjarke Ingels: “Information driven design”
The founder of BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group explains how the design work of his office is driven by information. The Dryline project to implement creative urban infrastructure that protects Manhattan from floods was created from the specific knowledge of external specialists, as well as the local community. “Our role is to take these inputs and synthesis a design solution that is informed by this wealth of knowledge,” explains BIG founder Bjarke Ingels at the Global Awards Bronze 2015 prize ceremony in New York.
His works in Copenhagen include Islands Brygge Harbour Bath, a series of five open-air swimming pools (2003); VM Houses, multiple-unit dwellings in V- and M-shaped apartment buildings (2003); Mountain Dwellings, an extensive parking facility combined with terraced housing (2008); and 8 House, a large mixed-use housing development (2010). International projects include the Danish pavilion at EXPO 2010 in Shanghai, China; New Tamayo Museum, Atizapán de Zaragoza, Mexico (2009); New Tallinn City Hall, Tallinn, Estonia (2009); Shenzhen International Energy Mansion, Shenzhen, China (2009); and the Faroe Islands Education Centre, Torshavn (2009). Recent projects include the VIA (West 57) apartment project in Manhattan, New York City, USA; Google North Bazshore headquarters (co-designed with Thomas Heatherwick); Superkilen, Copenhagen; and Amager Bakke waste-to-energy plant in Copenhagen.
Bjarke Ingels is the author of Hot to Cold: An Odyssey of Architectural Adaptation (Taschen, 2015) and Yes Is More: An Archicomic on Architectural Evolution (Taschen, 2009).
Podcast – How form-making will unlock the power of architecture
Bjarke Ingels is a global brand. Whatever one feels about starchitects in general, he is a force to be reckoned with. What does he think is the future of buildings and cities? What role will design play in solving the climate crisis?
Related information
Location
News
What role will design play in solving the climate crisis?
How form-making will unlock the power of architecture - Bjarke Ingels
Copenhagen, Denmark
Stage one of the Holcim Awards winning urban flood protection infrastructure project completed in New York City
First phase of Manhattan’s climate resiliency project opens
New York City, USA
Big U team led by BIG and One Architecture honored with Global Award for sustainable construction
Responding to climate change with creative urban infrastructure
New York, NY, USA
Top prizes for public space, social integration and resilient infrastructure
Sustainable design improving communities
Zurich, Switzerland
Initial funding and further awards for BIG-U project
New York, NY, USA
Projects
The Dryline
Urban flood protection infrastructure
New York City, USA
Videos
Bjarke Ingels: “Information driven design”
The founder of BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group explains how the design work of his office is driven by information. The Dryline project to implement creative urban infrastructure that protects Manhattan from floods was created from the specific knowledge of external specialists, as well as the local community. “Our role is to take these inputs and synthesis a design solution that is informed by this wealth of knowledge,” explains BIG founder Bjarke Ingels at the Global Awards Bronze 2015 prize ceremony in New York.
Bjarke Ingels: “Information driven design”
The founder of BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group explains how the design work of his office is driven by information. The Dryline project to implement creative urban infrastructure that protects Manhattan from floods was created from the specific knowledge of external specialists, as well as the local community. “Our role is to take these inputs and synthesis a design solution that is informed by this wealth of knowledge,” explains BIG founder Bjarke Ingels at the Global Awards Bronze 2015 prize ceremony in New York.
The Dryline – BIG’s vision for New York City
The Holcim Awards Silver 2014 winning project for North America addresses the vulnerability of New York City to coastal flooding and proposes a protective ribbon around lower Manhattan. Designed by a consortium led Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), a project film to document the vision co-developed with the people of New York City was launched at an exhibition of BIG’s work at the National Building Museum.
The Dryline – BIG’s vision for New York City
The Holcim Awards Silver 2014 winning project for North America addresses the vulnerability of New York City to coastal flooding and proposes a protective ribbon around lower Manhattan. Designed by a consortium led Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), a project film to document the vision co-developed with the people of New York City was launched at an exhibition of BIG’s work at the National Building Museum.
Rebuild by Design: Holcim Awards Silver 2014 for North America
The BIG U project that addresses New York City’s vulnerability to coastal flooding by using a raised berm and sequence of public spaces along the water’s edge won the Holcim Awards Silver. The 13km (8 mi) long infrastructural barrier was designed by a consortium led by architects Bjarke Ingels and Kai-Uwe Bergmann of BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group (Denmark/USA). The jury acknowledged the project’s sensitive blend of hard infrastructure and local community needs.
Rebuild by Design: Holcim Awards Silver 2014 for North America