Baukultur is a German word that translates to “building culture.” The concept has emerged as a way to address the built environment’s turmoil and to challenge us to think differently. It’s a holistic approach emphasizing quality, sustainability, and social inclusion. Baukultur covers all aspects of the built environment, from urban planning and architecture to landscape design and construction. Its sister concept, high-quality Baukultur, is a building culture that aims to meet the highest standards of excellence. These standards vary depending on the context, but they typically include aesthetics, functionality, sustainability, and cultural significance.
Culture guides people in situations where there are no rules or outspoken conventions. That’s why a cultural transformation of the built environment is crucial. Not only do we need a cultural narrative for the transformation, but we also have to prioritize it. As the direction and purpose of construction change constantly, its rules, measurements, criteria, and targets are in flux and often contradictory. Thus, we can only rely on culture to guide us when other instruments of change are obscure or even counterproductive to decarbonizing the sector at record speed.
The concept of Baukultur has a long tradition in German-speaking countries, but the holistic approach to Baukultur was embedded in the 2018
Davos Declaration. While the values of Baukultur are undeniable and have been part of the public discourse for years, they’ve failed to drive significant change. We can all agree that we want sustainability, quality, and inclusivity to guide our built environment. The challenge, however, is figuring out the concrete, practical ways to bring about this transformation. A Nordic interpretation of Baukultur is an opportunity to define what high-quality building culture means in our unique context. It also provides a chance for the Nordics to spearhead sustainable development, this time by creating a more expansive cultural concept that genuinely addresses the challenges of our time.
Nordic Baukultur invites us to level up: taking the environmental crisis seriously and fostering societal well-being means we have to do radically better than before. We need to change our perception of quality – the idea that we can “build better” will no longer cut it.