WOODEN IT BE LOVELY?
Oslo, Norway

Type: Comissioned Project
Role: Project Architect [in partnership]

Team: Don Lawrence, Idunn Kirkret, Johanna Gøranson, Marie Fjeldstad

This pavilion is a product of a cooperation between ARKITEKT TEAM* and Grønn Hverdag, and started out as a wish to make something that could both work as exhibition space as well as an attractor for the festival. NCC has been sponsoring and leading the building of the pavilion.

Building a temporary pavilion for an environmental fair in order to dismantle it in three days can seem like a self defeating proposition, so it is planned to have an afterlife. The structure is to be reused at other venues before finally being dismantled and reused at the end of the summer.

The pavilion is designed as two independent structures made entirely of standard 2” x 6” wooden members tied together with steel rods. The material is untreated spruce, an environmentally friendly building material that we have plenty of in Norway. The structures are based on a modular system that gives them the possibility to fit together or be separated in various arrangements.

Each pavilion is designed as a prism and articulated as a series of 25 separate frames that when put together creates the perception of a harmonious object. The frames are connected by a system of spacers in-between each frame allowing slivers of light to come in. The effect is a light and playful structure that interacts with the sun creating constantly changing light conditions as the sun arcs across the sky during the day. By focusing on this effect we wanted to point to the fact that what we build is always a part of a bigger picture. We believe that the way architects can contribute to building more environmentally friendly, is by relating to the processes in nature, and show sensivity regarding placement and orientation, rather than depending on vulnerable and energy spending mechanical solutions.