‘Departure and homecoming: Tradition may constitute a point of departure for creation, but never a home to come back to’
— Kazuo Shinohara
Thinking
As our name implies, we begin each process by understanding the already existing. We do this in order to ‘design as little as possible’, letting patterns of life frame and direct our work. Each project begins by understanding the essential qualities of the client, space, and users that we are engaging with. We work with these with the ambition to help places feel truly alive. This aliveness often grows out of patterns of history and culture and these are our roots for transformation and care of the existing.
Places where life can unfold organically.
Building
We like to think that architects build. If that may be designing, drawing, planning and administration, it all eventually comes down to the act of building. We as architects should first and foremost think within this paradigm of building instead of merely planning.
We strive to set new standards for materials and construction to shape a contemporary definition of architecture that addresses the numerous challenges our planet faces today. In this new definition, we emphasize viewing every piece of material as a valuable resource, with transformation and renovation as guiding principles.
Production is a core pillar in our practice and is always introduced in the conceptual/schematic phase. For us, a successful production is the unity of raw material, technique, and tectonic quality. In the office we talk about the ‘opportunities in production’ which means that we do not simply apply building products to a concept but try to understand each element looking for the opportunities in the production.
The opportunities in production provide us with the tools to distill projects to their tectonic essentials and to work directly with these elements: The materials, the construction, and the visual form of the built, converge to constitute a unified whole.
As a result, the built then becomes exactly what we see and touch, exactly what we feel beneath our feet.
Team
Jo Qiang (CH)
Partner, Operational Director, Architect

(+45) 9155 4010
Partner
M.Arch., Cranbrook Academy of Art, 2016
Yuan-Chieh Yang (TW)
Partner, Design Director, Architect

(+45) 6168 4010
yang@archivalstudies.net
Founding partner
M.Arch., Cranbrook Academy of Art, 2015
Emil Roman Frøge (DK)
Partner, Creative Director, Architect
Founding partner
M.Arch., Cranbrook Academy of Art, 2015
Paulina Heinz (DE)
Assistant Creative Director, Designer

(+45) 6110 7104
heinz@archivalstudies.net
M.Des., Royal Danish Academy, Spatial Design, 2024
B.Des., Universität der Künste Berlin, Product and Process Design, 2021
AS since 2021
Ananda Ferreira Gomes (DE)
Communication Manager, Student Worker

–
gomes@archivalstudies.net
Part time
M.Sc., IT University Copenhagen, since 2023
B.Des., Hochschule Pforzheim, 2019
Petra Hertl (SLO)
Project Manager, Architect

(+45) 2210 1182
hertl@archivalstudies.net
M.Arch., University of Ljubljana, 2021
Katrine Brændholt (DK)
Project Manager, Architect MAA

(+45) 2061 5098
braendholt@archivalstudies.net
M.Arch., Royal Danish Academy, KKA, 2019
Mikkel Wickmann (DK)
Technical Design Lead

(+45) 2825 9510
wickmann@archivalstudies.net
B.Des., Royal Danish Academy, 2022
Carpenter, Svendborg Technical School, 2015
Niels Ulrik Østrup (DK)
Project Manager, Architect

(+45) 6019 8614
oestrup@archivalstudies.net
M.Arch., Royal Danish Academy, KTR, 2021
Benedikte Munk Randløv (DK)
Project Manager, Designer
B.Des., Royal Danish Academy, 2024
Lina Drewalowski (DE)
Junior Architect

(+45) 31 74 60 13
drewa@archivalstudies.net
B.Arch., Berlin International University of Applied Sciences, 2022
Niklas Jakobsen (DK)
Production Manager, Carpenter, Architect

(+45) 4234 4742
jakobsen@archivalstudies.net
Carpenter, Next Copenhagen, 2024
Cand. Arch., Kunst og Arkitektur, 2017
Tobias Staalmann (DK)
Joiner Apprentice

(+45) 2284 8913
staalmann@archivalstudies.net
Apprentice, Copenhagen Technical School, 2025
B.Communication, Roskilde University, 2018
Helle Thaarup Pedersen (DK)
Cabinet Maker Apprentice

(+45) 5027 0788
pedersen@archivalstudies.net
Cabinet Maker Apprentice, Copenhagen Technical School
Yumi Higuchi (JP)
Joiner, Carpenter, Furniture Maker
Kyoto Seika University, 2017
Contact
Project Inquiries
mail@archivalstudies.net
Please contact us at: mail@archivalstudies.net
Product Inquiries
product@archivalstudies.net
Please contact us at: product@archivalstudies.net
Job Inquiries
job@archivalstudies.net
Please contact us at: job@archivalstudies.net
Financial Inquiries
invoice@archivalstudies.net
Please contact us directly at: invoice@archivalstudies.net
Open Positions
Currently there are no open positions at the studio. Please keep an eye on our instagram and website for future announcements.
Due to the high amount of interest we can only respond to solicited applications.
Application Responses
We appreciate the effort that has gone into every application we receive. Due to an overwhelming amount of interest, however, we cannot respond to unsolicited inquiries at this time. Thank you for your understanding.
collaborators
Christine Bjerke, Dinesen Lab, Realdania, Pihlmann Architects, Victor Boye Julebæk, Gehl People, Dreyers Fond, Marianne Krogh, Artikel København, Studio Atlant, Chrissie Muhr, Alexis Mark, Almenr, Sarah Mullertz, Forthcoming Studio, Reværk Arkitektur, Cobe, Peter Frøge, Studio Kim Lenschow, Studio 0405, MSSR Works, Arda Audio, The Danish Association of Architects
clients
Realdania, SMK, Playdead, Bikubenfonden, Art Hub Copenhagen, Rockfon, Almenr, Carlsberg Byen, Gasoline Grill, FRAMA, Glyptoteket, Norse Projects, d line, Ricardo Bofill, Tivoli Gardens, Kinraden, Refshaleøens Ejendomsselskab, Copenhagen Contemporary, Humble and Curious, NREP, Trifolium, Kinraden, Åben Brewery, Gammel Strand
Exhibitions and Publications
Publication, book, Reset Materials, exhibition design, 2023
Exhibition, Parts of a Whole, with Artikel København, 3 Days of Design, 2023
Exhibition, Mindcraft Project, Online exhibition, 2021
Publication, magazine, Kōnā Restaurant, Monocle, 2021
Publication, magazine, Archival Studies, Euroman, 2020
Exhibition, Studio X , 3 Days of Design, 2020
Publication, book, 11 rum: Nyindretning at Marienborg, 2019
Exhibition, Give Tradition a New Meaning, Living Is Giving, Beijing Design Week 2018
grants and residencies
Business grant, The Young Artistic Elite Grant, Statens Kunstfond Danish Arts Foundation, 2019
Travel grant Japan, Danish Arts Foundation, 2019
Travel grant Japan, Dreyers Fond, 2018
Residency, Danish Art Workshops, Copenhagen, 2018
Project grant, Danmarks Nationalbanks Jubilæumsfond, Denmark, 2017
Lectures
Singularch Lecture Series, ‘Transforming the Already Excisting’, Bratislava, 2024
Latvian Design Award, ‘Transforming the Already Excisting’, Riga, 2023
The Royal Danish Academy of Art, School of Architecture, ‘Understanding the Already Excisting’, Copenhagen, 2022
The Royal Danish Academy of Art, School of Architecture, ‘Lecture 01’ Copenhagen, 2018
Downloads