What if we weren't allowed to construct new buildings anymore? What if the climate crisis had already caused a 3 °C rise in global temperature by now? And what if we honestly asked ourselves how much space and comfort we truly need? Questions like these are the subject of the DGNB exhibition "What If: A Change of Perspective". It illuminates how multifaceted the topic of sustainable architecture is, and highlights the developments in this field over the past few decades. At the same time, it suggests ways that everyone can contribute to change – without pointing fingers.
"We want to invite people to return to the central idea of sustainable architecture – connected to the question of how to create good buildings and neighbourhoods that people feel comfortable in, that are affordable, and that provide answers to the most pressing environmental issues at the same time," says DGNB's CEO Dr Christine Lemaitre, explaining the exhibition's conceptual approach. "That may sound trivial, but it isn't, because we've forgotten how to question established ways of doing things. So we need a change of perspective, something we want to motivate visitors to take part in."
The exhibition is also a call to learn from good solutions from the past, instead of constantly reinventing the wheel. This is exemplified by the projects that have won the German Sustainability Award for Architecture – bestowed by DGNB and the German Sustainability Award Foundation – since it was created in 2013.
"Most of the projects that we chose as award-winners were ahead of their time, as they addressed topics from the wide spectrum of sustainable building in exemplary ways that were anything but self-evident at the time of their planning," says DGNB President Prof Amandus Samsøe Sattler.
DGNB's first exhibition
For DGNB, working with Aedes is a milestone. In the 18 years since it was founded, the association has grown to become one of the world's most impactful sustainable building organisations. With over 2800 member organisations from all areas of the construction and property industry as well as the public sector, DGNB is Europe's largest network for sustainable building and a unique alliance of experts from business, research and society. A non-profit organisation, DGNB is 100 percent content-driven and is dedicated to furthering a holistic, life-cycle-oriented understanding of sustainability, as is currently becoming the new norm throughout Europe.
"In the past two decades, there has been an enormous amount of progress in relation to sustainability and climate action in construction," explains Christine Lemaitre. "A lot of things we now take for granted were pipe dreams or purely theoretical just a few years ago. Our exhibition is partly about showing that these positive developments didn't just happen by themselves: pioneers paved the way for them. This shows what's possible in architecture when courage and creative willpower come together."
Exhibition at Aedes open almost every day
The DGNB-curated exhibition "What If: A Change of Perspective" will be officially opened at 6.30pm on 12 December 2025. The following day, Saturday 13 December 2025, it will be open from 1-5pm. From then on, the opening times are the same as those of Aedes: 11am-6.30pm Tuesdays to Fridays, and 1-5pm on Sundays, Mondays and public holidays. Entry is free every day, and no registration is required to attend the opening. The exhibition runs until 28 January 2026.
A second exhibition at Aedes, "Democratic Design – Space for Cooperation, Collaboration and Compromise", will be running concurrently to the DGNB exhibition for its entire duration. With an international audience in mind, both exhibitions are in English as well as German. The exhibitions are aimed at anyone interested in architecture, regardless of how much they already know about issues relating to sustainable building. Find out more at www.dgnb.de/en/aedes.
