RIBA + VitrA Building Empathy: Dorte Mandrup

For the third talk in the 2025 RIBA + VitrA series ‘Building Empathy’, we invite internationally and critically acclaimed architect Dorte Mandrup.

Dorte Mandrup’s studio is renowned for creating architecture that responds to its surroundings. From transforming delicate natural environments to reimagining complex urban sites, the studio explores how architecture can build empathy by honouring the existing physical, cultural, and emotional identity of the landscape.

Dorte will reflect on projects including the Ilulissat Icefjord Centre, raising awareness of the Arctic’s fragile climate; The Wadden Sea Centre, blending seamlessly into its landscape with locally sourced materials; and The Whale, a striking example of architecture in deep dialogue with nature.

Join us to hear how Mandrup’s approach - layered, context-driven, and always designed with nature in mind - offers a compelling vision of what it means to design with empathy today.

This event is part of the 2025 RIBA + VitrA Talks Programme exploring the power of design to create positive change in communities. This year’s theme, Building Empathy: Design for our time, highlights the role of architects in shaping built environments that are accessible, meaningful, and responsive to their cultural and natural surroundings.

Keynote:

Dorte Mandrup

Founder & Creative Director, Dorte Mandrup

Danish architect Dorte Mandrup is the Principal and Creative Director of the Copenhagen-based architecture studio Dorte Mandrup, which she established in 1999. The studio is internationally recognised for their ability to create architecture that actively engages with the complexities of each place and contributes with new relevance. Using the entire context as a conceptual starting point, Mandrup employs an artistic, humanistic, and scientific approach to form designs that enhances the awareness and experience of each place. In recent years, she has distinguished herself in the architectural field with extraordinary projects like The Whale in Norway, the Exile Museum in Berlin, Nunavut Inuit Heritage Centre in Canada, and Ilulissat Icefjord Centre in Greenland.

Dorte Mandrup has received numerous national and international awards and recognitions for her work. She headlined the curated international exhibition at La Biennale de Venezia in 2018, chaired the Mies van der Rohe Award in 2019, is Vice Chairman of Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, member of Akademi der Künste in Berlin, Honorary Professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Architecture, Design and Conservation, Adjunct Professor at Accademia de Architettura de Mendrisio in Switzerland, and this year Kenzo Tange Design Critic in Architecture at Harvard GSD.

RIBA + VitrA Talks

A series of talks featuring emerging and established international architects delivered in partnership with VitrA Bathrooms, now in its seventh year. This year’s RIBA + VitrA Talks series is on tour as we transform our London home, 66 Portland Place, as part of our House of Architecture programme.

Lead Image: The Whale, Dorte Mandrup. Credit MIR

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