Building a Mega-Museum

Eighteen years, a 14-metre-deep crater, a rebuilt brick façade, and a glass dome set to redefine Copenhagen's skyline Denmark's new Natural History Museum is almost ready. 

In this episode, Michael Booth meets architect Claus Pryds, who was barely out of architecture school when he unexpectedly won the competition for the country's next great museum. What followed was a marathon of design, engineering and sheer perseverance that stretched across nearly two decades. 

Michael and Claus dive into the wild story behind the museum: the setbacks, the breakthroughs, the impossible holes in the ground — and the thrill of watching a once-in-a-lifetime project finally rise to the surface. Opening in 2027, the museum will feature new worlds dedicated to Danish nature and Greenland and rumoured to have everything from dinosaurs to a Blue Whale skeleton. 

Guest:

• Claus Pryds

Host: 

• Michael Booth 

Let's Talk Architecture is a podcast by Danish Architecture Center. Sound edits by Munck Studios.