Who builds the map?

On our journey in Spain in November, Pilar Pinchart was present at our lecture at ETSAM in Madrid invited by Juan Herreros. In the discussion after the lecture Pilar was very interested in the notion "The New Economical Landcape". The day after we had a conversation on this topic, and more, at the beautifull space in Hotel de las Letras in Madrid.

See also a series of other interviews by Architect Pilar Pinchart at  tv skfandra! Hans Ulrich Obrist, Abalos + Sentkiewicz, Florian Beigel+ Phil Christou, Anton García-Abril, Reiner de Graaf, Juan Du + Chad Mc Kee, Peter Barber, Stefano Rabolli...


CLOSEUP: DAHL & UHRE from skfandra on Vimeo.

Tromsø January 26th

TERRITORIAL PRACTICES / CONFERENCE

Arctic Frontiers 2012 / Tromsø
The conference asks if and how industrial practices and global economic practices are able to develop in a close and sustainable connection to local landscape conditions. It also asks how architectural practices can identify and create awareness of landscape spaces that are not immediately visual. It seeks to demonstrate the significance of architectural logics, explorations and concepts for social development.
The conference will work explore new vocabularies, tools and methods for a sustainable development of the complex set of practices operating within the same territories.

SPEAKERS 

ARCTIC FRONTIERS 2012 

Europan 11 Norway Book of Results

The prizewinning ceremony was held at DogA in Oslo the 14th. of Desember.
The next step for the young architects in and with the cities where laid out at a workshop the day after.The Book of Results where on the table at this ceremony. Knut Eirik has written the text “Fighting on other Barricades” as an introduction to the book , for you to read.

Open publication - Free publishing - More 0047

Valencia debates - shear energy

In three days in November we lectured and debated in Valencia. This gallery of participants shows the energy and engagement of the artists, architects, designers, researchers and students. In the round-table discussions we had Maria Helstrøm Reimert between us translating from Spanish to Scandinavian – a top performance. The discussion continued into the nights.

Europan 11 Prize Ceremony

The 14th of December the Prize Ceremony for Europan 11 takes place in Oslo. The day after this the first dialogue between the prize-winning teams and the three participating cities takes place. Be present at the ceremony and meet the ambituos cities and the young architects from all over Europe, entering the Norwegian cities in transformation.

going south x 2

On our way to lecture on "Appearing and Disappearing Landscapes" in Valencia, we are "hijacked" to give a lecture at ETSAM in Madrid. The title of this lecture is a light reference to Eduardo Bru’s book "Coming from the South". We read this book at the Europan Forum in Cordoba some years ago, and it informed us then.
We will elaborate on some of our findings seeing our projects as touchstones in the Nordic landscape. At the Europan Forum in Oslo KED was involved in series of discussions on the tensions in Spain, Portugal et al.So being present in Spain today must be quite an experience. Belinda Tato and Ecosistema Urbano from Madrid are now in Hamar working for two months, in direct dialogue with the people in Hamar, with the project Dream Hamar. We find this Spanish/Norwegian interchange really enlightening. Angel Borrego Cubero, professor at ETSAM, was interviewed by Bryan Farrel in May under the title "The beauty and vision of Spain’s "revolution". Here he talks about the role of young architects in the new Spanish realities.
We really look forward to our Spanish journey.

III CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL ARTE Y ENTORNO

Knut Eirik and Kjerstin are giving the opening Lecture at the 3rd International Conference on Art and Environment at the Art and Environment Research Centre (CIAE), Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) 16th of November.

North latitude: Ethics and aestethics of living 16 17 18 nov 2011:
“We understand that a society is projected towards the future in accordance with its own traditions, yet there is strong confrontation with the new realities that value the citizen, the environment or sustainability. That is why this conference which focuses its attention on environments in certain environments of the Nordic Council (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway or Iceland). The capitals of these countries are world leaders in terms of environmental culture. Committed to a set of values, they are examples of societies facing the challenges that lie ahead and can provide us with interesting strategies stemming from their proven experience.”

3 days with, lectures, paper readings and round table conversations + warm weather and long nights! We are really looking forward to meet the organizers, mediators, students and the other lecturers:
Maria Hellström Reimer (Malmø) A visual artist and professor in design theory at Malmö University, School of Arts and Communication. Tone Lindheim (Oslo) Landscape architect, partner in Bjorbekk & Lindheim landscape architects. Luis Navarro (Valencia) Writer and promoter of the 90s underground collective for aesthetic action known as Industrias Mikuerpo and the fanzine, Amano, and coordinator for the independent publisher Literatura Gris, committed to the recovery of the situacionista legacy and formed part of Maldeojo, a collective of critical thinkers. Fernando Gaja i Díaz (Valencia) Urban planner and Senior Lecturer in Urbanism and Regional Planning at the Department of Urbanism (UPV). Amador Fernández-Savater  (Madrid) Independent researcher and engaged thinker. Perhaps the label that best defines him is editor as his thoughts and energies are directed toward thinking processes: the challenge of registering, synthesising, coordinating and communicating fragments of discourse.  Boke Bazán (Valencia) Senior Lecturer in the Master’s Programme in Design and Illustration at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Valencia, (UPV) and in Master’s Programme in Design Engineering at Valencia’s ESET school (Universidad CEU).Peret; Pedro Torrent (Barcelona): He works in graphic design, illustration, photography, sculpture and stage design. He has held 16 individual exhibitions (Spain, France, Japan, and México) and about one hundred collective ones in 24 countries. Luis Eslava Studio (Valencia) Luis Eslava and Lorena Sauras “gear their studio towards the creation of global projects, product design and spatial design.”

Award winner for best Nordic urban plan

Nunarsuup qeqqani - Nuup qeqqani won the best Nordic urban plan award at the Nordic architecture festival – Arkitekturmässan, in Gothenburg.

From the awards ceremony at Världskulturmuseet.

”The jury commended the clear and strong narrative that resulted from an intense research and exchange with the local community. The plan comprises a contemporary approach to landscape and cultural issues. This is a convincing project that pushes the boundaries between many disciplines and is not afraid to touch on the hard social ambiguities and the adverse local conditions. It subtly deals with different typologies and introduces urban qualities by creating diversity and a balanced density.”

Project credits: Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq has in collaboration with The Government of Greenland prepared a comprehensive master plan for the Tuujuk and Block P areas in Nuuk. The masterplan NUNARSUUP QEQQANi / / Nuup QEQQANi / In the Middle of the World / / In the Middle of Nuuk has been developed after advice from Dahl & Uhre architects, (Tromsø) and tnt nuuk a/s. Project leader for the municipality: Jakob Bjerg Exner, project team leader: Knut Eirik Dahl. Additional assistance on master plan by MDH Architects (Oslo) and Asplan Viak landscape (Oslo). Energy advise by Steinsvik Arkitekter AS (Tromsø) and INUPLAN A/S (Nuuk). Additional guest projects that have contributed significantly to the project’s development have been provided by Fantastic Norway (Oslo), MDH Architects sa (Oslo), 42 architects + Regional associates (London) and tnt nuuk a/s, M: ARC ApS and Arkitekti ApS (Nuuk).
The plan has been developed in continuous dialogue with citizens and interest groups in Nuuk and with a broad specter of Nordic voices (the Tromsø Conversations).

For more information about the nominees and jury: Arkitekturmässans Award 2011.

The Conversation on art + architecture!

Welcome to the first conversation event in Herreros Arquitectos exhibition project, The Banquet: The Conversation on art + architecture! Thursday September 8th at 19:00 to 21:00 at ROM for kunst og arkitektur in Oslo.

Defining, designing, building and activating spaces are the creative base for architecture. Ultimately these are also concerns which affect contemporary art practices in general. The method of research in the physical environment and in the human nature and psychology is another. Art and Architecture from their different positions, base their work upon the understanding of the society and cultural codes for delivering concepts and new ideas.

We acknowledge the independency and eligibility of each profession but also question: Are art and architecture just two parallel lines? If not, how and where do they meet? Are there crossing points? Is there something more than gravity fields, a mutual attraction that forms common environments for understanding, describing and transforming the world? Do they fuel, intensify or fertilize each other? Or is it just the sharing of clients and concepts that is inspiring them to collaborate on mutual interests? Is there an art + architecture? Conceptually or even physically?

In the panel:
Joseph Grima, Editor in chief of Domus magazine and ex-director of StoreFront gallery in NYC
Gunnar B. Kvaran, Director Astrup Fearnly Museum of contemporary art
Marit Justine Haugen, Artist and architect, Haugen & Zohar Architects, Oslo
Dagur Eggertsson, architect Rintala Eggertsson Architects, Oslo
Knut Eirik Dahl, architect D&U, Tromsø and professor at the Institute of Urbanism and Landscape at AHO in Oslo
Juan Herreros, architect, Herreros Arquitectos, Madrid
Among others and the public.

Emerging

Our daughter Sara made this image in the spring. An early reading of the latest news on aspects of the global forces. She is now in den Haag ready for Bachelor studies in Graphic Design at The Royal Academy of Art.

In The Middle of The World / In The Middle of Nuuk

We are on our way to Nuuk and Greenland.Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq, Sermersooq Municipality has in collaboration with Kalaallit Nunaanni Namminersorlutik Oqartussat, The Government of Greenland prepared a comprehensive master plan for the Tuujuk and Block, P areas. The exhibition of the Master Plan proposal for parts of the City Centre of the Capital Nuuk, titled In The Middle of The World/In The Middle of Nuuk , opens on the 5th of April. Our guests and collaborators, Minna Riska from MDH architects , Johan Berglund from 42architects + regionalasscosiates and Anders Hus Folkedal from Aspan Viak Landscape travel with us. Håkon Matre from Fantastic Norway has to stay at home, with his newly born child. In Greenland we will team up with our partners in TNT Nuuk architects and all our connections and friends. The exhibition will be open at least until the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Arctic Council in Nuuk from the 10th to the !6th of May. A series of discussions will follow the exhibition: To exhibit is to open up! More to come on this sermersooq press release: For better or worse, the Tuujuk and Block P developments stand as symbols of a time of great social and cultural challenges. But the buildings are also valued for their central location and is home to people with resources. The ties between the residents and the energy that exists, is strong. After a lifetime of 40 years, block P with its 135 apartments and 50 residential dwellings is due for demolition, and Block A - L in Tuujuk with 156 apartments will be undergoing a phased demolition over a period of years. The problem surrounding the buildings is simple - as time has passed, the housing has become outdated. In the process of rebuilding the areas, a number of important questions must be asked: What qualities exists today and what new possibilities and qualities should we aim to produce? What kind of life and environments should we strive to generate? What type of town should it be? What role could the district play in Nuuk's overall development? In short: What kind of capital city should we aim for? To answer these questions, new experiences must be acquired and new knowledge learned and understood. Our existing thought Models need to be renewed. Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq has in collaboration with The Government of Greenland prepared a comprehensive master plan for the Tuujuk and Block, P areas. The masterplan NUNARSUUP QEQQANi / / Nuup QEQQANi / In The Middle of the World / / In the Middle of NUUK has been developed after advice from Dahl & Uhre architects (Tromsø) and TNTnuuk A / S. Additionally, MDH Architects (Oslo), Fantastic Norway (Oslo), 42 architects + Regional associates (London), Asplan Viak landscape (Oslo) M: ARC and Arkitekti (Nuuk) has also contributed significantly to the project's development. The plan is developed in ongoing dialogue with residents and stakeholders and originates from a desire and willingness to provide Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, with new development opportunities for the city and its citizens. The plan seeks to ask and answer the right questions, which will be required to achieve this vision

“at work with 0047. La Biennale di Venezia 2010”

Wednesday September 8: Performing Northern Experiments
Northern Experiments is 0047’s ongoing program on the High North and the spatial consequences and possibilities of the increased activity and international interest in this part of the world. In the context of the “At work with” program, 0047 has invited a series of lecturers to shed light on this theme.
VENICE: 2PM Knut Eirik Dahl, professor, Dahl&Uhre, Kelly Doran, architect LRA and Øystein Rø, director 0047

read more

Nuuk // summer laboratory of the young at heart

Klik på billedet for at få en appetizer for diskussion med med unge nuummiutere omkring Nuuks fremtid - byen de i fremtiden skal vende hjem til.

Klik her for at downloade hele diskussion.

Through a discussion over one month between us and the director of The Bank of Greenland, Peter Petersen, some stunning dialogues has appeared. These dialogues is soon presented as a chronological skype/mail conversation. Hopefully also in english. What you find here, the Summer Laboratory with the young at heart, came up in these discussions as a theme connected to what is needed, what is important politics in relation to get the educated young people back to Greenland. And what kind of transformation in Nuuk can be related to this. Helena Lennert in TNT Nuuk headed this summer laboratory in a beatifull way.

BARCELONA BIENNALE

Five projects from our studio have been selected to be exhibited as part of AHO contribution to the 6th European Landscape Biennial in Barcelona. The INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF UNIVERSITY PROJECTS IN THE SCHOOLS OF ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPE will be celebrated in the Technical School Superior of Architecture of Barcelona, from the 27th of September till the 15th of October of 2010.

See the pdfs here:
> JÆREN RECONNECTED
> A NEW SEASCAPE CARTOGRAPHY / (+doc)
> SOS JÆREN / (+doc)
> AGRICULTURE LEADS THE FLOW / (+doc)
> A JOURNEY ACROSS THE PIXELATED LANDSCAPE / (+doc)

Writings on the Wall

This exhibition in Nuuk, in one of the apartments that in time to come may be demolished and recirculated, is part of our story bord for the evolution of the project that D&U and TNT Nuuk is in the middle of making. Our line of work involves series of discussions and conversations on many levels within the Nuuk society: "They shall see what we hear" is one of our postulates that charges our work. The newspaper text titled "Nuuks strangest neighbour" is a dialogue with the project leader from the town planning office, Jakob Bjerg Exner, about his interpretations of the public viewpoints amd their writings on the wall.

Graduation Works // guest blogger

April and spring mark the termination of one cycle and the start of a new school year in Japan. During March, the graduation projects of architecture students from the Tohoku region were exhibited in the Sendai Mediatheque (by Toyo Ito). This was an incredible opportunity to view and possibly understand what notions architecture in Japan bases itself on: how do the students approach architecture, how is architecture even defined, in what directions do the professors push, how does the process unfold from a fragile idea into a material reality? I could not help to but to be touched by the minute level of the models, as expected. Some were almost like miniature puppet-houses. For instance, one could take out a book in a bookshelf in a model in 1:200. I was amazed by the scale of some projects, calling to mind less fortune directions of architectural history. Nevertheless, it was impressive how the most challenging shapes were worked in detail and made overall functioning spaces. On a superficial level I would say that there is a general "style" that outlines itself. The likes of SANAA, Sou Fujimoto, Junya Ishigami, Atelier Bow Wow or Tezuka come to mind in the spatial expressions, the shapes and materials. Still, the most inspiring and impressive feature, in my opinion, is the sensitive ambition that fuel these graduation works. It seems like the Japanese students are looking for a "new nature", in the words of Ryue Nishizawa. They are not afraid of searching for the ways in which contemporary life is defined and architecture by extension. They innovate. Coming from a French school this is an aspiration I have never been encouraged to pursue. Certainly, there are some doubtful points: the negation of the context, houses without roofs and walls that seem to defy all laws of gravity. However, is not a part of the architectural education to experiment and to question conventions? How else can we move towards an architecture more in sync with our time? This exhibition was a very pleasurable and inspiring experience. Unfortunately, due to copy right issues I cannot post any pictures that directly depict projects. Please enjoy the peek.

11 informative conversations

A map/summary, made by Alice Labadini, of the 11 studios our AHO students have been through in the last 30 days..

> pdf

When you hear music its gone in the air

This image from my notebook was used in the discussion with you on storyboards. It is my storyboard for the 10 minutes lecture I gave for 11 departments at the NAL session om Architecture Now, just back from Greenland. As you can see, some of the other lecturers is written into my storyboard giving it new shape and form, they informed my lecture so to speak
It is the only two pages from my notebooks, that has been with me through all the studios we have set up through Jæren and Greenland, that is left in my position.
My computerbag with all technicalities and two completely filled notebooks where stolen from me in Oslo on Friday evening. As you know how much importance and confidence I place in the dialogue, and in the images that these dialogues create, can understand the complete loss I feel after this theft. Even the texts from the last dialogues with you is gone with the wind. But; Alice has made a beatifull poster, positioning this studios in two worlds we have been to and the notions and statements from them as stones in water with rings of knowledge, thouching each other, merging into each other. She has even blocks of texts from the studios. If I could ask for the moon: could each of you post on the blog a comment from one or two of the studios we set up in Jæren and Greenland and give your version of them, just some lines. That would be very good for me, and also for you I hope. A kind of rewriting of your and my learnings. Anything is very welcome - fex Gotfrieds five points from the IRIS studio, and Tarald Omas four columns of wisdom from the Ona Lighthouse studio. The heading "When you hear music its gone in the air" is from the Jazz musician Eric Dolphy. I am eagerly waiting for your small stories - thanks.

Protective Structures // guest blogger

Tandi Reason Dahl is studying architecture at Sendai university this year, she is also our guest blogger, We're looking forward to see more from her!

The pictures that follow are from gardens in Kyoto and Sendai. Much has been said about the Japanese garden, I can only add these photos as a token of my admiration for the absolute care and beauty invested in something as seemingly banal as a winter protection.

They explore the future Jæren Landscape

This is the title on the journalist Odd Pihlstrøms article in Stavanger Aftenblad Monday the 15th of February. Odd Pihlstrøm opened up and connected us to a series of voices in the Jæren agricultural Landscape. Four of this voices, and Odd Pihlstrøm, attended our debate studio set up at Ona Lighthouse (see the attached article) in a beautiful afternoon on the brim of the Atantic. An open and intense discussion took place for three hours, with the student eagerly participating – Oh What a Perfect Day.
On our three day journey in Jæren, brilliant organized by Alice Labadini, we set up five such studios in different places with impressive participation from cutting edge environments in Stavanger.
De utforsker framtidens jærlandskap - PDF,
See the studio-blog: appearing-and-disappearing-landscapes.
Photo: Odd Philstrøm, Stavanger Aftenblad