Exporting Humanist Architecture

The article is a chapter in the catalogue for the Danish exhibition at the 2016 Architecture Biennale in Venice. The catalogue is conceived at an independent book exploring the theme Art of Many - The Right to Space. The chapter is an essay in this anthology tracing and discussing the different values and ethical stands involved in the export of Danish Architecture.
Abstract:
Danish architecture has, in a sense, been driven by an unwritten contract between the architects and the democratic state and its institutions. This contract may be viewed as an ethos – an architectural tradition with inherent aesthetic and moral values. Today, however, Danish architecture is also an export commodity. That raises questions, which should be debated as openly as possible. What does it mean for architecture and architects to practice in cultures and under political systems that do not use architecture as a way of generating humanism, freedom or equality? The essay outlines the background story, identifies a number of positions in relation to architecture exports and discusses some of the dilemmas that arise when Danish architecture is seen in an export perspective.