Oslo: The Latest Architecture and News

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The Norwegian studio of Powerhouse, in collaboration with KIMA arkitektur, has won a design competition for the transformation and extension of one of the historical buildings located in the center of Landbrukskvartalet. Known as the Agricultural Quarter, a former farming and industrial site in central Oslo, the area is now scheduled to go through an urban revitalization process to be transformed into an active neighborhood based on the design philosophy of ‘new meets old’.

As the landscape of architecture and urban development adapts to the modern climate, the traditional notion of construction has been significantly modified and adjusted. Specifically, principles of reuse, recycling, adaptive reuse, and the power of transforming existing structures into something more meaningful and sustainable have gained much traction. Looking at these curated collections of unbuilt projects, one can begin exploring a different way of looking at buildings and heritage, which is significantly more sensitive to the built environment.

From the austere office buildings of the United Kingdom to the proposal to re-activate a skyscraper in Ostrava, these diverse contexts tell stories of resilience, innovation, and a profound commitment to the existing built environment. Offering a new way of looking at things, the projects champion adaptive reuse and activation concepts.

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In a conversation with Louisiana Channel, the founders of the international practice Helen & Hard Architects reaffirm their insistence on community and sustainability. The use of wood, in their practice, has become more than a building philosophy, it has turned into a philosophy. “Trees have a life of their own, and you feel a deep respect for the time it has taken to grow. We work with something alive, an organic material. We can’t do as we please with it. We must interact with the material.”

In August 2022, Siv Helene Stangeland and Reinhard Kropf, the founders of Helen & Hard, were interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner at various locations in and around Stavanger, Norway. The area holds special importance for the architects, whose approach was influenced by the culture that permeates Stavanger and the west coast of Norway.

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Norwegian architecture offices A-lab and LPO revealed the plan to develop the last remaining plot in Bispevika, part of the Fjord City, a large-scale waterfront urban renewal project in the center of Oslo, Norway. The intervention strengthens the connection between the historic medieval city of Oslo to the new Fjord City while also introducing cultural, creative, and commercial activities to the area. The project comprises five buildings forming a quarter. The proposed massing and height take a contextual approach as they are reduced toward important local monuments such as the baroque residence “Ladegården” with its baroque garden “Barokkhagen." The project is developed by Oslo S Utvikling (OSU), the same client behind the Barcode project, and in collaboration with landscape architects SLA.

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Haptic and Ramboll conceptualize a novel structure that hopes to eradicate the need for demolition. The timber high-rise construction is built for maximum flexibility and longevity, being able to change its configuration and, consequently, its functions to adapt to the city’s changing needs. The design concept is based on the idea of maximizing the potential of sites in inner-city neighborhoods. To exemplify the regenerative potential of this model, the architects have applied the concept to a tight urban area in the center of Oslo, Norway.

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Moving forward with his "ultra-marathon of photoshoots", architectural photographer Marc Goodwin is putting together an Atlas of Architectural Atmospheres by Arcmospheres, a project that seeks to document diverse architecture and design studios from around the world. Since 2016, the architectural photographer has been traveling "far and wide to capture the atmospheres of architecture studios in order to produce an online and print resource for the architecture community", and after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, Goodwin resumed his project with an exploration of Berlin's architecture offices, capturing the work environment of renowned firms such as Hesse, LAVA, JWA, and FAR frohn&rojas, to name a few.

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Last year, a series of new museums, expansions and several museum renovations have opened their doors to the public, adding a new dimension to the cultural landscape around the world. From the long-awaited re-opening of the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, to Ryue Nishizawa's Jining Art Museum merging with the landscape, and MVRDV's reflective Art Depot, discover the architecture of the latest venues of art and culture.

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Bjarke Ingels Group and A-Lab have unveiled their design of Oslo Science City, a new innovation district in Norway's capital that aims to create a physical framework for Norway’s innovation environment of estimated 150,000 scientists, students, entrepreneurs, and contribute to the country’s transition to renewable energy. The district aims to be a net zero emission area that operates on renewable energy and circular economic principles, as well as zero emission solutions during development and operation.

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