Stills from the film “Søren Pihlmann: Make Materials Matter.” Courtesy of Louisiana Channel.. Image © Simon Weyhe
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https://www.archdaily.com/1036214/make-materials-matter-louisiana-channel-releases-new-documentary-on-danish-architect-soren-pihlmann
Louisiana Channel, a web TV platform based at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, is launching a new film titled Søren Pihlmann: Make Materials Matter. Over the course of 54 minutes, Marc-Christoph Wagner and Simon Weyhe offer a glimpse into the work and mind of the founding architect of Pihlmann Architects, presenting his vision of Danish architecture, the practice of architecture itself, and, in particular, his sensitivity to materials. The film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the process and thinking behind the Danish exhibition at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale. Led by Søren Pihlmann, the team used the opportunity to renovate and conduct material research on Denmark’s permanent building in the Giardini, transforming it into a material laboratory and experimental construction site. The result is a process exhibition that highlights how rethinking and reusing existing structures and materials can address critical architectural challenges. As of today, November 20, the documentary is available to watch online for free.
“The construction sector, as it exists today, consumes 50 percent of all raw materials from the global plate. It also produces 55 percent of all waste, including a great deal of toxic debris. Whoever develops good ideas here makes the world a better place.” With this quote by German journalist Ullrich Fichtner, Marc-Christoph Wagner and Simon Weyhe introduce a careful look at the processes behind the work of Danish architect Søren Pihlmann. The documentary begins with his speech at the Venice Biennale and leads viewers behind the scenes of the pavilion renovation, an experimental approach that serves as a built manifesto and a statement of the beliefs guiding the architects’ practice. The 54-minute film follows the style of other Louisiana Channel productions, allowing the portrayed figure to unfold his practice. In the architect’s own words, we hear his testimony, ideas, and reflections, accompanied by architectural, landscape, and portrait photography.
Stills from the film “Søren Pihlmann: Make Materials Matter.” Venice Pavilion. Courtesy of Louisiana Channel.. Image © Simon Weyhe
Stills from the film “Søren Pihlmann: Make Materials Matter.” Margretevej. Courtesy of Louisiana Channel.. Image © Simon Weyhe
Louisiana Channel has followed Søren Pihlmann for the past three years and, during the summer of 2025, produced Make Materials Matter. The film portrays Pihlmann, his thought process, and his approach to architecture, which, among other elements, places collaboration across different professions and competencies at its core. The journey goes beyond the pavilion and into other projects, where Pihlmann demonstrates how houses can be transformed by reusing their inherent materials. The renovation of the pavilion in Venice, on the other hand, focused on climate protection and a comprehensive upgrade. In addition to showcasing the Danish landscape, the city of Copenhagen, the pavilion, and various construction projects and sites, the documentary presents a scientific approach to materials. On screen, we see materials being broken down, lifted, combined, recreated, and tested in an exciting demonstration of a philosophy of recycling, recovery, and experimentation. Through collaboration with a wide range of professionals, materials are examined and reassembled into something different, aligned with Pihlmann’s vision of “understanding the existing to predict the future.”
Related Article “Helping the Existing to Reconfigure Itself”: In Conversation with Søren Pihlmann, Curator of the Danish Pavilion 
Stills from the film “Søren Pihlmann: Make Materials Matter.” Courtesy of Louisiana Channel.. Image © Simon Weyhe
Make Materials Matter is a deep and intimate narrative about Søren Pihlmann’s practical thinking and work ethos: the need to recognize limitations in architectural practice, the value placed on process and on the traces embedded in materials, and the pursuit of honest construction using as few new resources as possible are just some of the principles illustrated in the film. The documentary had its world premiere during the Copenhagen Architecture Biennial 2025 and was screened at international architecture film festivals in Rotterdam, New York, Zurich, and Bergen in October. It then travelled to Vancouver, Toronto, and Mumbai. Starting today, it is available for free reproduction at the link below.
The more we can let the material be the protagonist of the architecture, the more interesting the architecture becomes. — Søren Pihlmann
Louisiana Channel was founded in November 2012 and is today one of the world’s largest platforms for content on contemporary art. Artists, architects, and writers appear in more than 1,300 videos on the channel. Recent interviewees include Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto, celebrated for fostering community through architecture and reflecting on the social role of the discipline and the need to create spaces that encourage visible, meaningful relationships; American architect, designer, and educator Jenny E. Sabin, who elaborates on her interest in bringing people together through new strategies for responsive and adaptive architecture and through the connections between the digital, the physical, and the biological; and Mexican architect Gabriela Carrillo, who reflects on the design of public spaces, the relationship between architecture and land art, and the role of the preexisting in the transformation of space.