University of Washington - College of Built Environments

  Master of Architecture Intern Exchange Program

Inspired by the success of the existing Scan|Design Foundation Denmark Intern Exchange Program with Gehl Architects, this internship exchange program will offer students in the Master of Architecture program the chance to gain valuable professional experience by working in the offices of exemplary Copenhage-based architecture firms. 

BIG Architects, Copenhagen, Denmark

Beginning in the Fall of 2010, we have partnered with Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) to offer 6-month internships to University of Washington students. BIG receives over 100 internship applications A DAY!

BIG is a Copenhagen based group of over 60 architects, designers, builders and thinkers operating within the fields of architecture, urbanism, research and development. The office is currently involved in a large number of projects throughout Denmark, Scandinavia and the Middle East.

BIG’s architecture emerges out of a careful analysis of how contemporary life constantly evolves and changes. Not least due to the influence from multicultural exchange, global economical flows and communication technologies that all together require new ways of architectural and urban organization. They believe that in order to deal with today’s challenges architecture can profitably move into a field being to a large extent unexplored a pragmatic utopian architecture that steer clear of the petrifying pragmatism of boring boxes and the naïve utopian ideas of digital formalism.

In their projects they test the effects of size and the balance of programmatic mixtures on the triple bottom line of the social, economical and ecological outcome. Like a form of programmatic alchemy they create architecture by mixing conventional ingredients such as living, leisure, working, parking and shopping. By hitting the fertile overlap between pragmatic and utopia, BIG architects once again find the freedom to change the surface of our Planet, to better fit contemporary life forms. In all their actions they try to move the focus from the little details to the BIG picture.

To view a video of BIG founder, Bjarke Ingalls, describing the design process for 8Tallet, click here 8-House by BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group . This project was completed in 2009.

Henning Larsen Architects

Beginning in the Winter of 2012, we have partnered with Henning Larsen Architects to offer 6-month internships to University of Washington students. 

Henning Larsen Architects is an international architecture company with strong Scandinavian roots.  Their goal is to create vibrant, sustainable building that reach beyond themseleves and become of durable value to the user and to the society and culture that thare are built into.  They attach great importance to designing environmentally friendly and integrated, energy-efficient solutions.  Their projects are characterised by a high degree of social responsibility -- not only in relations to materials and production but also as regards good, social and community-creating spaces.

Henning Larsen Architects is the most international architectural company in Denmark with projects in more than 20 countries.  The company currently employs over 165 architects, designers, builders and Engineers with offices in Copenhagen, Riyadh, Munich, and Beirut.

C. F. Moøller Architects

Beginning in Spring of 2012, we have partnered with C. F. Møller Architects to offer 6-month internships to University of Washington Students.

C. F. Møller Architects is one of Scandinavia's oldest and largest architectural practices.  Their work involves a wide range of expertise that covers programme analysis, town planning, master planning, all architectural services including landscape architecture, as well as the development and design of building components.

Simplicity, clarity and unpretentiousness, the ideals that have guided their work since the parctice was established in 1924, are continually re-interpreted to suit individual projects, always site-specific and based on international trends and regional characteristcs.

Over the years, they have won a large number of national and international competitions and awards.  Their work has been exhibited locally as well as internationally at places like RIBA in London, the Venice Biennale, the Danish Architecture Centre and the Danish Cultural Institute in Beijing.

Today C. F. Møller Architects has app. 300 employees.  Their main offices are in Aarhus and they have branches in Copenhagen, Aalborg, Oslo, Stockholm and London.

All aspects of the internship program are managed by Assistant Professor Peter Cohan. For more information about this program contact: Peter Cohan

2010-2011 Intern                                                                                     

2011-2012 Interns