A
Associate Professor
Head of the PhD School
Institute of Architecture and Culture
Martin Søberg
As an architectural historian, I specialise in the relationship between buildings, ideas and cultural contexts. I study built and imaginary examples of modern and contemporary architecture, such as housing projects, churches and playgrounds. Theoretical and discursive work by architects interests me particularly and forms part of my explorations of the experience and meaning of architecture.
Current work & highlights
My research in architectural history and theory covers a variety of topics, including welfare, housing, and the artistic processes of architecture. Inspired by new materialist thinking, I am particularly interested in the relationship between ideas, materiality, space, and human and non-human actors.
I am Head of the Royal Danish Academy’s PhD School and a founding member of the Royal Danish Academy’s Clusters for the History and Theory of Architecture and Housing Research.
The insights gained from my research inform my outreach work. This includes public lecturing and serving on the boards of non-profit organisations. I am the chair of Docomomo Denmark and the vice-chair of the Danish Association of Art Historians.
Housing
I am part of the research project 'BO GODT! Udviklingen af danske boligidealer, 1930–1960' [LIVE WELL! The development of Danish housing ideals, 1930–1960], a collaboration between BUILD, Aalborg University and the Institute of Architecture and Culture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in partnership with the Royal Danish Library. The project is funded by the Augustinus Foundation.
Our research examines the origins of housing ideals. Specifically, it addresses the period from 1930 to 1960, a time that in many ways resembles the present day. Society was undergoing change and new technology and living conditions demanded new ways of living. The study focuses on the interaction between the state, civil society actors, and popular cultural platforms, such as magazines, housing exhibitions, and advice literature.
The project's main deliverable is the recently published book BO GODT! Boligidealer i dansk populærkultur mellem 1930 og 1960 (Strandberg Publishing, 2026).
Welfare
To understand the historical significance of architecture, it is important to explore its socio-cultural context and how the experience of the built form is linked to other forms of meaning-making and cosmologies. My research examines the relationship between architecture and different life forms, including the role of children and animals as symbolic figures in modern architecture.
The connections between architecture and the concept of welfare exemplify this intertwining of the material and immaterial aspects of architecture. My research into the relationship between architecture and welfare has centred on the Danish modern architect Kay Fisker, resulting in the first in-depth English-language study of his work and writings. I have also co-edited the research anthology Architectures of Dismantling and Restructuring: Spaces of Danish Welfare, 1970–Present (Lars Müller Publishers, 2022).
Art and Architecture
A key aspect of my research is the study of artistic processes, theories and poetics in architecture. Adopting a historical approach, I particularly focus on the interplay between different media and methods, such as written discourse and image creation.
I am part of the curatorial team for ‘Work and Words: Biennale for Artistic Research in Architecture.’ Artistic research in architecture produces works. It involves specific investigations and experiments with materials, models, drawings and images, in which aesthetic considerations are important. These are in constant dialogue with ideas, concepts, and a variety of other parameters. Furthermore, artistic research is a mode of knowledge production that combines works and discourse.
My research also covers image theory and the study of different types of representation, with a particular focus on the role of drawing in architectural production and discourse. In these fields, I have co-edited the research anthologies The Artful Plan: Architectural Drawing Reconfigured (Birkhäuser, 2020) and What Images Do (Aarhus University Press, 2019).
Modern Churches
I have written the research-based book Himmelstykker: Dansk kirkearkitektur i det 20. århundrede (Strandberg Publishing, 2025), a tribute to Danish church architecture in the twentieth century. In this period, the need for new churches grew as society and faith evolved. The book presents fifteen buildings designed by, amongst others, Martin Nyrop, P. V. Jensen-Klint, Inger and Johannes Exner, Jørn Utzon, Friis and Moltke and Henning Larsen.
The examples range from Grundtvig’s Church to Bagsværd Church – from the historical trends at the start of the century to the radical innovations leading up to the turn of the millennium. Through experiments with materials, light and space, the architects demonstrated how church architecture could be transformed and opened up to the contemporary world.
Kay Fisker and Danish Modern Architecture
Kay Fisker (1893–1965) is considered one of the most influential Danish architects of the twentieth century. My research into his works and writing is presented in the monograph Kay Fisker: Works and Ideas in Danish Modern Architecture (Bloomsbury, 2021), which has been translated into Danish as Kay Fisker: Moderne arkitektur – levende tradition (Strandberg Publishing, 2023).
The book examines Fisker’s key projects – from his early railway stations and innovative housing projects to the Danish Academy in Rome – and analyses his work as a historian and writer. Fisker’s output is closely associated with the functional tradition, a hybridization of international modernism and regional architectural typologies, and the book shows how his architectural poetics can be understood as an amalgamation of an ideal order with the contingent conditions of landscapes and urban sites.
My research in Kay Fisker has also resulted in a co-edited special issue of Magasin for Bygningskunst og Kunst, published by the Institute of Architecture and Culture.