In a new exhibition at AEDES Architecture Forum in Berlin, Norwegian architecture firm Mad arkitekter showcases four examples of sustainable architecture, stressing the importance of collaboration and cross-disciplinary for achieving climate goals. On view through until March 10, Mad About Dugnad – Work Together, Build Better echoes the Norwegian tradition of "dugnad", which refers to community solidarity towards achieving a common goal, a key concept in creating solutions for a sustainable future.
Based in 4 Norwegian cities, with the head office in Oslo, Mad arkitekter is an interdisciplinary collective operating at the intersection of people and their environments, with a body of work spanning a variety of scales and programs, from furniture design to neighbourhoods. Through the exhibition at Aedes, the firm shares its methods and approaches regarding sustainable architecture. The models, plans and texts reveal an insight into the firm's working process.
We trust in processes and involvement through collaboration on all levels, and we believe that we, as architects and individuals, have an obligation to take part in the common 'dugnad' towards a sustainable future where people and nature can thrive.[…] Aware of the responsibility we carry as designers, we constantly question our work towards a deeper understanding of the complexity of the world we live in to find better solutions on how to tackle the climate and societal challenges we are facing today. - Jonny Klokk, Architect and Partner at Mad arkitekter
The four projects showcase various strategies, from adaptive reuse and renovation to circular economy principles. Kristian August Gate 13 in Tullinløkka in Oslo is an adaptive reuse project transforming a 1950s building threatened with demolition, reusing and repurposing 70% of the existing materials. Similarly, in the Festiviteten project, the firm restored an 1874 building, reintroducing it in the social landscape of Larvik, Norway. "Recipe for Future Living", the winning design of a C40 Reinventing Cities competition, is an exploration of circular economy, sustainable use of resources and reuse at the scale of a neighbourhood., while Woho is a timber tower that recreates the Kreuzberg neighbourhood in the form of a high-rise.
Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin is the first private architecture gallery founded by journalists Kristin Feireiss and Helga Retzer in 1980. The place is an integral part of the contemporary international architectural scene, providing architects with a platform for disseminating their architectural and urban ideas
