Welcome to Coolville
We are Coolville Design Lab.
We work globally in urban design and have offices in Copenhagen and Kyiv.
We are a multi-disciplinary design lab that works with cities and developers around the world to create streets, neighborhoods and cities that are above and beyond the norm, using tried and tested urbanism techniques harvested from both the current age of urbanism, as well as the cities we lived in for more than seven thousand years before we invented the automobile and all of our urban thinking became warped. We take cities Back to the Future - to a place where people are in the forefront of our urban thinking and solutions on the ground are beneficial to urban life.
Led by Mikael Colville-Andersen, with his extensive global experience over the past 15 years and his pioneering philosophies about urbanism, Coolville Design Lab work with visionary clients who are ready for change.
The Team
Mikael Colville-Andersen
Mikael is an urban design expert, author and host of The Life-Sized City urbanism tv-series. He has worked in over 100 cities around the world in urban design and urban planning. As his Twitter bio says, he has been “unfucking cities since 2007”, so you can gain a sense of both his passion and approach. He calls himself an impatient idealist and works hard to inspire the urban change citizens need - and deserve.
Mikael is a much sought-after public speaker and you can book him through his personal website.
Vadym Denysenko
Vadym is the Head of our Ukraine office, based in Kyiv. He is one of Ukraine's most experienced urban planners and he has been instrumental in the modernisation of the standards dictating planning in the country.
Our key partner in Bikes4Ukraine, Vadym is also tireless in his efforts to develop Ukrainian cities in a more people-centric way, not least in light of the invasion. He works with municipalities across the country, leading the charge for positive urban change.
Things We Do
Responding to an appeal from our urban planning colleagues in Ukraine in April 2022, we started a non-profit that sources used bikes in Europe and sends them to NGOs in Ukraine, where they are used as lifelines for volunteers and social workers delivering food, water, medicine, and humanitarian aid to vulnerable citizens in devasted areas.
Cycling Master Plan for Mykolaiv, Ukraine
We have taken it upon ourselves to assist the city of Mykolaiv in designing the city for a bicycle-friendly future. The city sees the invasion as an opportunity for positive urban change, and it is an honor and a privilege to play our part in planning for a transport future that is sustainable, healthy, and modern. Read more here.
Urbanism Master Classes
We offer comprehensive Master Classes that enable our participants to apply critical thinking to vital areas of urbanism - with the goal of moving past and beyond the staid, slow-moving modus operandi of so many cities. International inspiration that thrives on a cross-pollination of ideas will create a new generation of thought leaders who will be equipped to tackle the urban challenges we all face.
Visionary Clients
We are not like the others. We work with clients that have a clear and present desire for urban change and are willing to engage with us to make it happen. We won't take projects that help our financial bottom line but that only involve going through the motions of producing "feasibility studies", "white papers" or uninspiring projects like a single stretch of bike lane or pilot projects that do little to advance the quality of life for humans in a city. We're not good at baby steps. We're more into a great leap forward. Are you ready to make visionary change happen? Contact us. Anything less, there are many companies to help you.
Coolville Storytelling
Coolville Design Lab riffs off of Mikael's global urbanism documentary The Life-Sized City by working with smaller cities that have great stories to tell about their people-centric urbanism development. We come into a city on a film shoot and meet a select roster of citizens doing what they can to make their city better - often despite the challenges they face from their City. Through positive social media and a 20-30 min Yutube film, we will continue to spread the good word about the positive stories in cities that might not otherwise enjoy a broad audience. All in order to continue to cross-pollinate important, passionate and transferable ideas.
50 Ideas for Ukraine
The tireless work of Mikael and the team in Ukraine since May 2022 with our non-profit Bikes4Ukraine has led to an entire thought process about what the nation needs in order to rebuild. We fear whatever kind of Marshall Plan is in store for the nation after the war, based on the destructive, car-centric urban planning that European cities were force-fed in the 1950s. In order to bring positive ideas to the table early, Mikael is curating a book where he has asked colleagues around the world to each write a chapter with a positive idea for Ukrainian urbanism. It will be the first book about post-war reconstruction in Europe in the 21st century. Publisher: Canactions
Bicycle Culture by Design
Life-Sized Cities
Join the Urban Revolution: Intern at Coolville Design Lab
Coolville Design Lab thrives on our internationality and we welcome qualified interns who have a desire to help us unfuck cities. At Coolville Design Lab, we don't care about your specific program or academic label. Cities are intricate and multifaceted, and we welcome individuals from any field who are eager to apply their knowledge, skills, and efforts to study, envision, and design the cities we truly want to live in. What matters most is your genuine interest in making our cities great.
Coolville Design Lab is a dynamic and unconventional space where people from all disciplines are invited to share their unique perspectives on cities. Whether you come from a background in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, or any other field, your angle matters to us. We believe that the richness of urban design comes from embracing diverse approaches.
Here at Coolville, we break free from the monotony of typical office tasks that professionals are "too busy" to handle themselves. As an intern, you'll be given real responsibilities and the freedom to take initiative, actively contributing to our company's products. Mikael's previous company featured a constant powerhouse team of passionate interns from around the world who were given experience and responsibility that you rarely get in an internship.
Email us via the contact page with the word "Internship!" in the subject line (don't forget the exclamation mark!) and we'll send you an email with what we want to see from you in an application.