Next week marks the start of a major international celebration of architecture - the 8th edition of the Oslo Architecture Triennale dedicated to the role and importance of neighborhoods. What is hidden under the slogan "Mission Neighborhood"? What will happen during the opening days of the Oslo Architecture Triennale?
A&B is one of five media patrons of the event (along with ArchDaily, dezeen, koozArch and The Architect's Newspaper).
concern
I think that cities and their modern planning are currently missing a very important element - the social aspects of everyday life. [...] The residential buildings being built in Norway today are very egocentric. They lack vision and concern for the community. That's why I think that the participants who create the common good should rethink these issues," explained the slogan of this year's OAT, Christian Pagh, curator of the event (you can read the entire conversation here).
© Oslo Architecture Triennale
empathy
A neighborhood, the triennial's organizers explain, is the sum total of the places we share with others every day, the spaces for meetings and joint activities, the framework of our everyday life. The event's mission is to search for the qualities of good neighborhoods, ways to design quality neighborhood space, cooperative organizations and empathetic approaches to urban development.
"Mission Neighborhood," like any mission, also has a purpose, and that purpose is to stimulate critical and constructive research into the possibilities that neighborhoods bring within various disciplines; to seek answers and point to responsibility for necessary actions: What must be done? Who can do it? What is our responsibility? What can we achieve by acting together?
COMMUNITY
Running from September 22 to October 30 this year, the Oslo triennial will thus become an urban laboratory, an open space for exploring ways to shape the neighborhood through architectural, design and planning activities.
For the purpose of creating this neighborhoodlab (Neighborhood Lab), the organizers have taken over the building of the former Munch Museum, where, in addition to discussions, workshops, concerts and numerous local activities, they have planned three exhibitions: "Mission Neighborhood - (Re)forming Communities," which will showcase nearly 25 projects from all over Europe exploring the topic of neighborhoods from different perspectives, "Exploring Oslo in the Making," telling the story of the Norwegian capital's contemporary urban development, and the exhibition "Peter Cook - Ideas of Cities," presenting drawings and interventions created by Peter Cook that show alternative and often surprising ideas about the city.
© Oslo Architecture Triennale
A program of exhibitions and events in keeping with the triennale's theme was also prepared by partner institutions. Thus, at the National Museum of Architecture you can see the exhibition "Coming into Community" exploring how ideas about community have shaped architecture and urban development, and at the ROM gallery an exhibition presenting artistic explorations of neighborhoods "Betraktninger = Observations, Dialogues and Actions." For the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, the starting point for developing new scenarios for community life has been minorities and less visible groups in cities. The National Association of Norwegian Architects is organizing a conference on systems thinking as a way to create more sustainable neighborhoods. A number of meetings and talks exploring the conditions for developing neighborhoods are planned at the DoGA's design and architecture center, as is the Oslo arkitektforening.
OAT opening days (September 22-25)
September 22, Thursday
9.00-12.00 International seminar: Mission Neighborhood - (Re)forming Communities
The Triennale will open with an international seminar centered around the theme of the event. Invited guests will talk about ways to shape more sustainable, diverse and thriving neighborhoods. The conference will be attended by Professor Carlos Moreno, initiator of the idea of the 15-minute city, Martha Thorne, dean of IE University in Madrid, Peter Cook, architect and artist, Dominic Leong, architect and founder of the Leong Leong arc studio, and Irene Lønne, dean of the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO).
For more information: here.
September 23, Friday
9.00-18.00 International seminar: Mission Neighborhood - (Re)forming Communities
On the next day of the opening mini-festival, a conference addressing the topic of neighborhoods and architecture from a systems perspective is scheduled. How architectural solutions can contribute to social and environmental sustainability will be debated by architect Dorte Mandrup, architect Anna Chavepayre of the Encore collective, architect Nico Schouten of Metabolic, and Giles Hutchins, author of Leading by Nature and Regenerative Leadership, among other books.
Another session will focus on the approach of Scandinavian architects and designers to the issue of neighborhoods in urban planning. The speakers will be Anne Mette Boye, Architect of the City of Aarhus, Hanna Harris, Chief Designer of Helsinki and Finn Williams, Architect of the City of Malmö.
More information: here.
September 24, Saturday
The organizers have planned plenty of activities for Saturday - talks, workshops, tours and events at the National Museum of Architecture. You can find the full program here.
September 25, Sunday
On Sunday, the last day of OAT's opening festival, the old Munch Museum will open its doors to neighbors. The laboratory will be filled with conversation, art, food and music, and at 2pm, the triennial's curator, Christian Pagh, will guide participants through all three exhibitions. Details of the event can be found here.
© Oslo Architecture Triennale
This is just a small sampling of the events planned for the Oslo Architecture Triennale, of which A&B is a media patron. You can find the full program here, and stay tuned for coverage of the opening days now - stay tuned!
