Question 1

True or false: He once designed a power plant that doubles as a ski slope.

Accepted Answer

True. CopenHill in Copenhagen is a waste-to-energy plant with a year-round artificial ski slope on its roof—a signature BIG project.

Question 2

True or false: He once built a house entirely out of recycled shipping containers in just 48 hours.

Accepted Answer

False. BIG uses container-like modularity, but no such rapid-build container house exists—this is a common architectural myth.

Question 3

True or false: Ingels named his architecture firm 'BIG' as a joke about his own height.

Accepted Answer

False. BIG stands for Bjarke Ingels Group, not a personal height reference—he is actually 6'1".

Question 4

True or false: Bjarke Ingels was a professional skateboarder before becoming an architect.

Accepted Answer

False. He was an avid skater but never turned pro; he channeled that energy into architecture and his firm BIG.

Question 5

True or false: Bjarke Ingels was knighted by the Queen of Denmark at age 35.

Accepted Answer

True. In 2010, he was knighted in the Order of the Dannebrog for his architectural contributions—remarkably young.

Question 6

True or false: He designed a 'trash-to-land' park in New York City using recycled debris from Hurricane Sandy.

Accepted Answer

True. BIG's 'Dryline' (now Big U) project in Manhattan uses repurposed materials and landscape to protect against flooding.

Question 7

True or false: His firm BIG designed the world's first 'lego-like' modular housing system for Mars.

Accepted Answer

True. BIG collaborated with ICON to create 3D-printed habitats for NASA's Mars simulation, using interlocking modules.

Question 8

True or false: Bjarke Ingels learned architecture from a correspondence course while living in a van.

Accepted Answer

False. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and later at the Barcelona School of Architecture—no van or mail-order degree involved.

Bjarke Ingels Trivia Questions