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Urgent Housing in Torbjørnsbu
No full textHow can we create a protective community that ensures a dignified living environment for vulnerable individuals?
Urgent housing is for people without the capacity of finding a place to stay for the night or for a short period of time. Although the opportunity is intended for all homeless, regardless of their situation, there are most often people suffering from substance abuse living here. The debate in Arendal revolves around the unhealthy and unsafe urgent housing, especially in Torbjørnsbu. The area suffers from lack of care and interest and is described by the politicians and people in the local community as a ghetto.
The common practice today is not to separate residents based on gender or personal circumstances. As a result, young people who have run away from home may end up living next to individuals struggling with substance abuse or psychological issues. Stories from Torbjørnsbu are told about repeated assaults against women, incidents of theft, and the attraction of an undesirable outside community.
By focusing on the specific needs of one group facilitates a deeper understanding of their unique challenges, enabling a more targeted and effective support. As women are especially vulnerable in these environments, this project will offer safe and dignified temporary accommodations for women suffering from substance abuse.
This approach fosters a stronger sense of community, building trust and collaboration among the residents. It will ensure a stronger sense of safety for the individuals, but also for the local community.
An improvement of the accommodations in Torbjørnsbu is necessary to ensure a more dignified living environment. I also want to introduce a facility that provides additional support for the residents and encourage them to lead independent lives. I have prioritized a spacious garden where the residents can spend time together or recuperate alone.
Given that urgent housing is a temporary solution, the facility will not offer treatment for drug addiction. However, in addressing the needs of this group, I aim to respect their circumstances by including safe injection rooms and having a present staff to ensure their safety.
To successfully offer safe and dignified environments for this focus group, we must reduce stigma by adapting to their needs rather than chasing them away or hiding them from the rest of society.
While studying temporary living situations and mapping the needs of the chosen focus group, the diploma intends to be a criticism of an existing situation, raise awareness to the topic, and highlight the importance of an architectural opinion on the field.submittedVersio
From Soil to Structure - Material Exploration in a Vocational School
No full textThis diploma project envisions a space dedicated to educating craftspeople, an essential, yet often underappreciated, group that serves as the literal and figurative foundation of our built environment. At its core, this project is a school that examines how we educate future builders, aiming to broaden their understanding and strengthen their connection to the materials, tools, and processes that shape their craft.
This diploma project envisions a space dedicated to educating craftspeople, an essential, yet often underappreciated, group that serves as the literal and figurative foundation of our built environment. At its core, this project is a school that examines how we educate future builders, aiming to broaden their understanding and strengthen their connection to the materials, tools,
and processes that shape their craft.
In the northeastern part of Oslo lies Stovner, a place where the city meets the forest. Stovner feels like the edge of Oslo, where urban life transitions into the forested expanse of Marka. This diploma project is based on the vocational school currently located on this site.
How can architectural design enhance the learning environment and social perception of vocational education?
The utilization of resources has been a guiding principle throughout the design process, with wood playing a central role in the building’s architectural expression. The design incorporates wood at varying levels of processing—from thick, raw timber logs to thin, refined veneers. These layers of refinement reflect the school’s focus on material processing and craftsmanship, symbolizing the journey from raw material to finished product. The architecture then becomes an integral part of the educational experience.submittedVersio
HOUSE OF ELECTRICITY: : when we meet the machines
No full textThis diploma project explores the architectural potential of electrical substations within the power grid of Oslo, and how obsolete spaces within these buildings can be utilized in the future.
Due to higher demands for a more efficient electricity supply, the entire network is currently undergoing a major restructuring project based on a report by Statnett from 2015 called The Future Power Grid of Greater Oslo (Fremtidens nett i Stor-Oslo). Included in these plans is the upgrading of electrical installations within the substations of the city. This, along with the stations now being remotely controlled and no longer requiring daily staffing, has resulted in redundant spaces within these facilities.
These houses of electricity are part of the greater system across the country - a force starting from the sublime waterfall, traveling through power stations and numerous cables before manifesting itself again when we flip the light switch. This power transmission system plays a significant role within our infrastructure, and its built elements are present in both rural and urban environments. These buildings tell the story of the creation of Norway’s welfare society and the cultivation of natural forces. Because of this, they are also a part of our cultural- and architectural history.
When it comes to the architecture of electricity, the main power stations have dominated the history and literature in this field, while the smaller substations further down the distribution system have remained in the shadow of these monumental buildings. While the substations also started out as a typology expressing the great power of water and new technological inventions, it can be argued that they are now more hidden figures within our cityscape.
This diploma therefore directs the focus towards the substations of Oslo. The aim of the project is to explore how vacant spaces within these structures can be inhabited by working within the interface of humans and electricity. This approach addresses the topics of proximity and protection, while also considering the architectural history of this typology and electricity itself as a phenomenon.submittedVersio
Crafting conntections
No full textBarns have been an iconic feature of Norway’s cultural landscape for centuries. Among these, the red enhetslåve (standard barn) stands out as a symbol of Norway’s agricultural revolution around the 1900s. These multifunctional buildings, developed with input from engineers and architects, were integral to small farms, housing livestock, storing tools, and efficiently managing resources like hay and manure. However, with agricultural modernization and farm consolidation, many barns now face abandonment and decay, threatening a significant element of rural heritage and identity.
This thesis investigates the adaptive reuse of a standard barn on Nedre Diserud farm in Nord-Aurdal, exploring how its original structure and character can inspire new functions. Located on a picturesque southwest-facing slope with expansive views over Aurdal, the barn retains many defining features, including a manure cellar with stone and concrete walls, a soaring timber-framed structure, and a distinctive låvebru (barn bridge). The interiors reveal an intricate rhythm of timber beams, lofty ceiling heights, and an old log-built cowshed encapsulated within the barn. Despite its robust design, the barn faces the risk of deterioration, as the current owners are uncertain how it fits into their future plans.
The project proposes transforming the barn into a public cultural workshop and artist residency, preserving its historical and architectural qualities while creating a vibrant space for creativity, collaboration, and community engagement. A key design challenge is converting the large, uninsulated volume into usable spaces with distinct climate zones. This is addressed by introducing new log-built structures for insulated areas, allowing the barn’s original structure and rhythm to guide the placement of new interventions. Daylight is introduced through carefully placed glass tiles, replacing portions of the traditional slate roof, and ventilation openings are converted into windows to provide light and views.
The program for the revitalized barn embraces its legacy as a site of productivity while reimagining it as a hub for cultural activity. Facilities include woodworking, metalworking, ceramics, and communal spaces for cooking and social interaction. The barn will also host artist residency studios, and exhibition spaces, fostering exchanges between locals and visiting artists.
This thesis demonstrates how adaptive reuse can preserve architectural heritage while meeting contemporary needs. By retaining the barn’s distinctive atmosphere, from the interplay of light through timber paneling to the preservation of historical features like the cowshed and pigsty, the design ensures that the barn remains a living part of the cultural and social fabric of the community. It reflects the potential of these iconic buildings to serve as creative spaces that honor their past while shaping their future.submittedVersio
Tveidalen quarry: A structural, material and spatial study into sensuous experiences of time
No full textBy studying the interaction of stone and light I have, in this diploma, tried to answer the initial research question; how do we experience time in architecture? Time reveals itself in material textures and the shape of a space. It is present in the enduring connections of a structure’s elements, the sequence of rooms, and the path they invite us to take. Yet, it is the ephemeral moments within our built environment - the fleeting interactions of light, shadow and movement - that most sensuously shape how we experience time in architecture. You can’t hold onto the morning mist as it fades with the sunrise, nor will the shadow from a tree on your wall ever appear the same.submittedVersio
Løå: Revitalizing the 20th-Century Barn of Jæren
No full textThe diploma is an investigation of the 20th-century barn typology in Jæren and a case study for their continued use as cattle breeding facilities.
The 20th-century barn is a neglected element within the region’s agricultural and architectural heritage. Currently, hundreds of these barns have been made obsolete and left to decay due to new regulations under the new ”Lausdriftskravet” law (free-running requierment). Many farmers are opting to build new prefabricated structures instead of adapting and expanding the existing patchwork of barn structures.
This on-going shift threatens the survival of the 20th-century barn and questions their value as important contributions to the region’s vernacular architecture. This diploma adresses the 20th-century barn’s cultural historical value, by showcasing it as a progression and evolution of Jæren’s architecture.
The farm of Sør-Reime, in southern Jæren, is the point of departure for the diploma’s case study on revitalizing an existing barns in compliance with “Lausdriftskravet” and true with its typology. Through this case-study, the diploma argues for the importance of preservation, its feasibility through continued usage and for a more sustainable future for Jæren’s agriculture.
Agriculture is going to face more pressure from the authorities on the issue of not wasting cultivated land in the future. The agriculture industry needs to document that they are trying to reduce the amount of cultivated land as little as possible. Renovation and reuse could be part of this.Moreover, using existing buildings would be a change in the industry’s direction to a positive climate measure compared to todays situation of constructing new buildings and leaving old structures obsolete.
How can the 20th century barn continue its usage within the new requierments for animal welfare in ’lausdriftskravet’ through reuse and expansion of the existing structure, rather than building a new separate barn?
The 20th-century barns of Jæren should be recognised as important for the historic and architectural heritage. They are modern evolutions of the regional vernacular architecture – in stark contrast to the prefabricated and imported mega-structures of today. These barns embody a profound sense of belonging, tradition, craftsmanship, and community effort. Their distinctive forms, materials, and scale make them defining characters within Jæren’s vast landscape.
How can the qualities and spirit of the 20th century barn-typology be preserved and adapted to today’s requirements and technology?submittedVersio
A Landscape Approach. Reading a Geographic Context Through Multiple Dimensions: The Case of the Hexi Corridor Region in China’s Northwestern Gansu Province
No full textLong-term processes of socio-environmental transformation have severely degraded entire world regions, leading to pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges. In this planetary context, the thesis develops a Landscape Approach as a theoretical framework to systematically read and better understand large-scale geographies. It promotes landscape as a culture of thinking and a mode of working across spatial, temporal, and disciplinary dimensions.
As a case study serves the remote and arid Hexi Corridor in Northwestern China. The region is portrayed through a narrative that spans from its first integration as a strategic territory into imperial China (121 BC) to recent trends concerned with environmental challenges, as well as ambitions of economic growth
and development. Ultimately, the Landscape Approach aims to inform new interdisciplinary practices that can find integrated solutions to intervene in specific locations and restore degraded ecosystems at watershed scales, creating conditions that are socially and environmentally more just and sustainableacceptedVersio
