Interview with rector Lene Dammand Lund

Starting the school year 2014 KADK is organized in a new structure consisting of 7 new institutes. We have interviewed the 7 new heads of institute of the School of Architecture, School of Design and the School of Conservation as well as rector. Lene Dammand Lund is rector of KADK.

1. What is special about the new, combined KADK?
The new KADK is a merger of the School of Architecture, the School of Design and the School of Conservation. We have science, art and practice in common. We collaborate across the disciplines and aim for the highest international level. KADK educates people who together shape the Danish welfare model. We work on creating a close connection between the values our society is based on and its physical environments and objects. Everything that surrounds us. This is evident, for instance, in open, functionally mixed urban environments where well-preserved historical traces are mixed with modern urban spaces for all. Or in schools that exude respect for children and create optimal settings for the latest teaching principles.

2. What characterises the students at KADK?
Our students are inquisitive, bold and ambitious. They want to learn, create and think new. They want to explore the past and the present in order to shape the future. They have a wide interest in society and they are solution-orientated. They are not afraid of throwing themselves in deep, and they are incredibly persistent when it comes to realising their ideas.

3. Which role does KADK play in Danish art and culture?
We are the largest artistic degree programme in Denmark – and as such, we carry the responsibility of a cultural institution. We have a responsibility to hold on to homo generosus, the generous man, who by giving creates value, both for the community and for himself.

4. Which work/product or place do you associate with KADK?
It could be 24 hours in Denmark – because architects, designers and conservators help create and define the settings we live in. Both towns and cities  and the buildings, spaces and objects we use and with which we surround  ourselves. But also knowledge, signalling effect and behaviour. We see the results that KADK helps create, right from the early morning in our kitchen, when we get dressed and go to work, everywhere in the private and public business community  – and when we are off work – or participate in public debates about our society. KADK is everywhere. Just as 24 hours in Denmark.