qeqqata kommunia #3

Berit and Gisle have left for the third trip to Greenland. With them are the exhibition and the report we've been working on, which will be handed over in meetings with politicians and citizens this week. Pics and info soon!

workshop: one year of architecture

A message to you from the Northern Norway Architect Association:
I anledning av Norske Arkitekters Landsforbunds 100-årsjubileum er 2011 utpekt til Arkitekturens År. I tillegg til årets hovedarrangement i Oslo er det også ønskelig at lokalforeningene bidrar med arrangement rundt omkring i landet. For at vi skal få dette til kreves det engasjement fra medlemmene, og samarbeid med andre vil være en stor fordel.
Kurator for Arkitekturens År 2011 på nasjonalt nivå er 0047 og det overgripende temaet for året er ENDRINGSROM.
Vi i Nord-Norges Arkitektforening ønsker at vårt bidrag til jubileumsåret skal være mer enn isolerte hendelser rettet mot fagpersoner og spesielt interesserte. Gjennom et bredt samarbeid med andre organisasjoner og ressurspersoner ønsker vi å rette fokus på betydningen av våre romlige omgivelser, utvide forståelsen for hva arkitektur er, og nå ut til et større publikum.
For å komme videre med arbeidet ønsker vi DINE innspill og idéer.
Vi inviterer derfor DEG til en workshop der vi håper å samle interesserte personer og knytte kontakter.
Tromsø, torsdag 19. august kl. 18:00 - 21:00
Café des Beaux-Arts (Tromsø Kunstforening)
NAF

utopian consequences

Another of Gisle's articles for Nordlys is now available online: Utopi eller dystopi.

obra mínima

We just received Arquitectura Viva #140 - obra mínima which presents 50 small works, one of them is our view platform in Torvdalshalsen.

Lotus

The italian magazine Lotus publishes our bicycle space in an article about the national tourist routes.

summer updates

Mathias Kempton sent us some pictures from the Malmö exhibition and workshops earlier this summer.

Here are some other things that happened while we spent time elsewhere than on the internet:
-it is possible to see our and the other 18 concepts for small spaces at Victoria & Albert until the end of August
-Det store rum where we participate with an article on Points of Departure is now possible to download
-designboom published our national tourist routes projects.

le droit à la ville

If you have access to today's Nordlys newspaper (Friday 18 June) you can read another article by Gisle - this one is about the right to the city.

update: the text (in norwegian) is now available here.

WinD - As Found

World in Denmark is an annual research conference taking place in Copenhagen. This year we're here to present and discuss our paper Findings - using complexity as investigation tool: the plan as dynamic process.

Det store rum

We're in Copenhagen for the book release, Det store rum - a debate book where we participate with an article is published by Realdania. Links and info soon.







update: Det store rum is now possible to download here.

Malmö - City in Progress

We're in Malmö for the opening of the City in Progress exhibition at the Town Hall. Our studio City as Biotope at Bergen Architecture School is invited together with students from Alnarp and Lund to propose thinking and projects around themes as: rising sea level, integration and city growth. We thank Director of City Planning at Malmö Stad, Christer Larsson, for the invitation.

V&A small spaces

We are invited to participate in the Victoria & Albert exhibition 1:1 architects build small spaces with our concept Forever Forest / Endless Sea.

We're in London at the pre-première for the exhibition that will officially open 15 June and be on until 30 August.

20 selected architects from all over the world participate with concepts on the themes of: Cocoon / Womb, Dialogue / Collaboration, Escape / Retreat, Laboratory / Shed, Outside / Inside, Performance / Fiction, Playtime / Dreamspace, where the last one was ours to interpret.

This is (parts of) how curator Abraham Thomas described the exhibition in his invitation to us a year ago: At a time when the conception of architecture within the general public’s consciousness has come to be defined by large-scale, ambitious projects monopolised by a handful of internationally-focussed practices, this exhibition attempts to explore and celebrate a building strategy concerned with small-scale structures, singular design visions and a modesty of purpose.

Set amid the current economic and social climate which is rapidly developing in opposition to the recent trend for grandiose building schemes, this exhibition will explore a new agenda for design and construction which allows us to return to architecture as an ‘idea’, as a basic human need for shelter – a space for retreat and contemplation on a human scale. In the context of a cultural landscape ever more concerned with ‘appropriate design’, this exhibition aims to present examples of architecture pre-occupied with an aesthetic of quietness, combined with a renewed sense of function and instinctive purpose.

The architects will be encouraged to explore specific architectural and social typologies, each reflecting the intrinsic human need for modest, private spaces which can offer a vital refuge from everyday life. The exhibition will generate debate and discussion around the idea of creating personal space, and how we occupy this space both physically and emotionally. The structures will refer to historical and cultural precedents, whilst also reflecting contemporary examples of agile responses to such small-scale building strategies.

letter from le56 in 20th

Doina Petrescu, our friend at aaa, sends us some good news from the 20th arrondissement, to spread around us:

Dear friends,
You have visited, seen, published or just heard about our project Passage 56, St Blaise Paris which has recently been awarded a special mention within the European Prize for Public Space competition. www.publicspace.org

The project has been currently selected for another competition: Prix Grand Public des Architectures contemporaines de la Métropole Parisienne, which presents to the public opinia a selection of recent successful projects in Paris. The 56 is probably the ONLY bottom-up project in the selection, realised with very little money and the participation of inhabitants of the area who have gradually became users and managers of the space. We will be very happy if you can support the Passage 56 bid by voting (or/and commenting) on www.prixpublicarchi.com/espaces_publics/ by 30 June.

Many thanks for your support
aaa and Le56

what's on at 56: 56stblaiseactualites.wordpress.com/ photos: aaa/le56

NAF+SMAQ

The Northern Norway architect association invites to the annual meeting followed by the award cermony for the Northern Norway architecture award and a lecture by Sabine Müller of SMAQ, Berlin.
At Driv (3rd floor), Friday 11 June at 18.00

det store rum

The danish debate publication Det store rum will be released in June. The book is published by Realdania and contains several articles about regional planning, like Points of Departure - en kontinuerlig reformulering av planens mål og virkemidler by Gisle, co-written with Magdalena.

anybody home

Gisle has spent some days in Bergen again, tutoring diploma students. Several of our students from the autumn term's City as Biotope studio are now preparing their diplomas, and some of them are blogging about their work:
Tone's der er nogen hjemme brings us to the Greenlandish landscapes of Maniitsoq
Roberto's lines in the background looks for a new understanding Rosengård
Laura's urban development Bergen
Ragnhild's preconceptions of place and space
Herman's chaoticentity
Christian's støperiet
Tove Helen's Ålesund i fremtiden
Mo's Veterans' cultural centre
Gaute's Nye Bremnes ungdomsskule

kindergarten cover

Our kindergartens, including the newest ones, are presented in the latest issue of Arkitektur N.

BETRAYED BY NATURE / NEVER TRUST A PIONEER

Ane Elene Johansen
Anemarte Bjørnseth
Espen Justdal
Frank Ludvigsen
Geir Backe Altern
Heidi-Anett Haugen
Ida Walenius
Ingeborg A.K. Lindahl
Ingrid Forland
Line Solberg Dolmen
Margrethe Pettersen
Matilda Carlid
Vebjørn Guttormsgaard Mølberg
are the students from the Art Academy putting together the first diploma exhibition ever in Tromsø!
Saturday 15 May 2010 at 14.00 the exhibition BETRAYED BY NATURE / NEVER TRUST A PIONEER will open at Tromsø Kunstforening, there will be music, mingle, refreshments and of course art. Later in the evening, at 20.00, there will be a party at the café. If you are in Tromsø this is where you should be!

Sandu Strandkanten

Strandkanten is presented in the publication Conceptual Architecture by chinese Sandu Publishing.

letters from Monterrey

Our friend and former colleague Federico sends us letters from his home town Monterrey in Mexico. We have his permission to publish some of his thoughts on the sad reality of what is happening in his country right now. So, a couple of day after Cinco de Mayo we forward you these words on the battles of Mexico of today:

Things in Monterrey, believe it or not, have calmed down a bit, but I'm guessing it's because of the grey/rainy days that we're having, even criminals don't feel like going out as much. It's been like that for the last 2 weeks and it shows. No more street blockades (which I haven't seen any personally, and it is now reported that the ones blocking the streets are the same ones that protested back in February of 2009 when the military entered the city, AND they're being paid by the drug fractions about 20USD per day for men, and school supplies for mothers and children that participate.)

It is sad, very sad that this happens, add to that many of these people have lost their jobs and it shows that we have an unhealthy society, where the government does not satisfy the needs.
Our capacity to be amazed at certain violent acts has ceased to exist. All over Mexico the drug wars have made almost every mexican oblivious to the killings, as long as they're killing each other and not innocent people, like what happened at my school, believe it or not, 2 PhD students were killed not long ago. They were caught in the line of fire between military forces and the bad guys in an altercation that took place near one of the entrances of the school. The altercation was at 1am right outside one of the entrances to the school, the military started shooting, the bad guys shot back, the city police came and rescued the bad guys (yes that is the kind of police that we have here). That is a typical story of our judicial system, it is so corrupt that the only people you can semi-trust are the military forces. (They are taking care of kidnapping cases now too, because many policemen have been found were cooperating or are heads of kidnapping gangs).

The city runs almost at top speed, but you do see less people at night, our habits have changed, no stopping at night at convenience stores, shopping for food only at daytime. People are changing their cars to less luxury brands, or not upgrading their cars but rather keeping the one they have, etc. Too much information coming in, or none at all. This is how we live now, not in fear, but cautious all the time, where Monterrey used to be one of the safest cities in Mexico it has become a quite bizarre city. Areas of the city where nothing happened are safe no more, the most random shit, and i say that with all it connotates, happens now in Mexico, and some of these drug gang leaders I swear could could be taken out of ANY horror/suspense/gore/torture movie, it is a war after all, don't want to go into details but you get the idea. (Scare tactics to keep the population at bay)

We are learning to deal with it, it is not all bad news. It is just a matter of time I believe before things get better, it'll probably take years, but we're getting there, at least that's what we're hopeful for.

This is the latest report from Monterrey, people are getting tired of this and it is changing the country I believe, people are more honest in their general day by day activities, in part because you don't know who you are dealing with and in part because people are trying to show each other they they are NOT the bad guys.

But life must go on and we mexicans are quite resilient, we will not give ourselves in to being controlled by a mafia, drug lord, kidnapping gang, extorsion or whatever type of activities that these drug wars have created as parallel criminal activities. We still laugh, we haven't lost our sense of humor, people do want to go out, see their friends etc, house parties have become quite common in lieu of going out late. Again it has made us more cautious of our surroundings, it's like living in Mexico City in the 90's hehe.

I am optimistic and never down, and I believe the people of Mexico are not only wanting Mexico to be better, but they are actually working to make it better! All the best! Big Hugs from "La Ciudad de las Montañas"

kalaallit visit

Politicians and planners from Nuuk paid us a visit this week to see and study some arctic housing and infrastructure projects.

70°N by tank is a winner

Congratulations to our designer friends at tank who have received one of the world's finest packaging design awards, the dieline award, for their bottle 70°NORTH!
We like you, and we like the name - and of course the design - of your winning product!

prime magazine

Strandkanten in chinese Prime Magazine, we believe the theme of the issue is water..

70° in Ciudad Habana

Michele gives a lecture on the work of 70°N arkitektur at Fundación Ludwig i Habana, Wednesday April 7 at 14.00.

this is us

Here we are in the snow and the wind just outside the office some days ago. Michele has since left for Cuba, where she is going to give a series of lectures on norwegian design and architecture, and on the work of 70°N arkitektur. From left to right: Michele, Joar, Berit, Petra, Magdalena, little E, Gisle and Irene - who we are happy to have here working with us since January. photos by Karla, who is helping us with different things - including delicious lunches!

Exploring the high north 2

After an intensive week in Maniitsoq, we have now returned to Tromsø with a suitcase full of impressions and extended knowledge, ready for the second phase of our Greenland experience.

ILLOQARFIMMI ANGALAARNEQ!

March 4: City walk in Maniitsoq, conducted by Søren Lyberth and Finn Ellehave Petterson

INNUTTAASUNUT ATAATSIMIISITSINEQ!

March 3: Public meeting and workshops with the citizens of Maniitsoq.

the plan

In an article about eco sustainable strategies for the future Copenhagen the italian magazine the plan presents the three winning proposals for Nordhavnen including our Excentral Park - Edge Dynamics in their latest issue #039. The quite comprehensive nine spreads presentation of a Copenhagen to come includes several of the big urban developments under discussion or construction at the moment: Carlsberg, Sydhavn, Ørestad and Tuborg.

escuela infantil

The blog archkids notices our kindergartens.

PechaKucha for Haiti

The PechaKucha founders at Klein/Dytham in Tokyo have launched this admirable project of a Global PechaKucha Day for Haiti on February 20, including a presentation wave that will move through all time zones of the world - starting in Tokyo and the PechaKucha headquarter and ending in San Francisco where the Architecture for Humanity headquarter is located.
Tromsø don't have the possibility to join on this specific day but you will soon get info about our events to come.
Read more about PechaKucha for Haiti here.

who's your candidate?

Do you know a building that corresponds to this:
«Statens Byggeskikkpris er en heiderspris for bygningar, som gjennom utførelse, materialbruk og samspel med stad og miljø bidreg til å heve, fornye og utvikle den allmenne byggeskikken. Kandidatar til prisen skal ha god arkitektonisk utforming og skal oppfylle sentrale krav innanfor miljø og universell utforming.»
then read more and propose your candidate here, before March 14.

3 in 1

Another article by Gisle is published in today's Nordlys, about planning with a kinderegg-effect. As this series does not seem to be available on their web site we will try to get our hands on some facsimiles for those of you interested to read soon.

update: a link has been found - Planlegg med kindereggeffekt

City as Biotope - the book!

We are very happy to present the book - fresh from printing and vernissage in Bergen!
You can order it from us by mailing firmapost@70n.no or buy it from BAS by contacting line@bergenarkitektskole.no for 200,-. It is also possible to download as low res pdf here: City as Biotope PDF (44,5M).
Thanks to all the students and contributors!

happy expo

Happy students and teachers at the master studio expo at BAS. Learn more about the three studios: Architect in a foreign culture, Eco Urbanism and our City as Biotope.

seismo berlin

The Seismograph City exhibition has now moved to Berlin. Nordhavnen / Excentral Park - Edge Dynamics is exhibited together with other projects under the the title Sustainable Strategies in Dialogue.

Eröffnung/Opening: Freitag, 22. Januar 2010 um 18.30
Ort/Location: Studio bei Aedes am Pfefferberg, Christinenstr. 18-19, 10119 Berlin
Ausstellungsdauer/Duration: 22. Januar - 4. März 2010

The City not only defines itself as a generator of cultural, social, economic and ecological processes, but also as a seismograph of global developments. Climate change and its impacts, present new challenges for cities, which in Hamburg have guided a re-evaluation of necessary activities in this regard. In 2011, as "European Green Capital", Hamburg will be designated Climate Capital of Europe. The Seismograph City exhibition gives a fascinating view of the current status of the architectural and urban planning development of this Hanseatic city, in dialogue other cities and countries worldwide.

thursday is sun day

January 21 marks the day for the return of the sun to Tromsø, after two months of its absence. To celebrate this Tromsø Film Festival invited the whole city to a public projection of the classic silent movie Nanook of the North at the snow cinema on the main square. To make it less silent they also invited Matti Bye ensemble to play their custom composed music to the film - from the shoe shop window. Besides the fact that the event was really stunning, we're lucky to have a really good friend amongst the musicians - so now we're off to play with him, in the sun, before their return to Stockholm.

City as Biotope - book and exhibition

City as Biotope: the exhibition will open January 22 at BAS. 9.00-10.30 the students will go through their proposals and present the studio together with Gisle.
We've spent some weeks after christmas preparing the book City as Biotope - mosaïc::reading // mindfield malmö, that is now being printed and will be presented at the exhibition opening.

opera team

We're prequalified for the Kristiansund Opera competition together with winning team Mestres Wåge arquitectes, Barcelona, and Nordplan, Førde!
Our competitors are: Brisac / Gonzalez with Space Group, Jarmund / Vigsnæs with Wingårdhs, Snøhetta and CF Møller..

on peri-urban landscapes

Gisle and Magdalena have contributed with an article, Om framtidens landskap (On future landscapes), in the publication Landet utanför edited by Carola Wingren and published by the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry (KSLA).
Landet utanför contains articles by among others Gunilla Kindstrand and Mustafa Can; journalists, writers, landscape architects, planners and it is downloadable here (it's all in swedish).

Professor Carola Wingren writes in the foreword:
Några som också uppehåller sig vid det skånska landskapet, och som givit förslag på hur planeringen av det ska gå till i en framtid, är Magdalena Haggärde och Gisle Løkken, två arkitekter verksamma vid arkitektkontoret 70°N arkitektur i Tromsö. Deras vinnande förslag i RealDanias tävling om Öresundsvisioner 2040 som gick av stapeln 2008, antyder tillvägagångssätt som är mer öppna än dagens planeringsmetoder. Deras idéer om en ny planering möter på många sätt de värden som Mattias Qviströms forskning lyfter fram, med komplexa landskap fyllda inte bara av bostadsbebyggelse eller jordbruksaktivitet utan landskap fyllda av en biotopliknande mångfald och där territoriella gränser inte är de exakta värden som olika företeelser har att anpassa sig till. Haggärdes och Løkkens förslag Mosaïc, upprättat i samarbete med Dahl & Uhre arkitekter samt två handfull gäster och forskare, bygger bland annat på Deleuzes och Guattaris texter där de liknar området mellan den typiska staden och den typiska landsbygden vid en ”folding” eller ett veck fullt av möjligheter, där allt kan hända. Haggärdes och Løkkens planeringstankar är i vissa avseenden lika de tankar som Tomas Germundsson och jag själv utvecklar i vår artikel om en planering baserad på andra begrepp än gräns och territorium, där vi istället föreslår en planering grundad på begrepp som förloppslandskap, handlingslandskap och värdelandskap. Förloppslandskapet, ett begrepp som myntades av kulturgeografen Torsten Hägerstrand, innefattar det föränderliga landskapet över tid som beskrivs i flera av de tidigare artiklarna. Det är på sätt och vis en vägran till förenkling som griper tag i det Haggärde och Løkken skriver, när de betonar vikten av att arbeta med komplexiteten istället för att förenkla.

Google DAV

Our students Miia-Liina, Mathias, Tone and Kristian did a very nice project while in Malmö: A sunny day at Fredriksberg.
Knowing that Fredriksberg is a huge traffic junction their activities of pic-nic, romance, badminton and others could really be seen as an act of détournement.. or in their own words:
Through a series of evocative actions, we examine the hidden qualitative layers of the traffic junction in Fredriksberg, Malmö. The mono-programmatic appearance of the site is questioned by occupying it with everyday activity unfamiliar to it. The actions, documented in photos and film, form a loose narrative of a day trip to the site and are to be found in Google maps and Youtube.

It is now all published and clickable in both Google maps and Google Earth - take a trip to Fredriksberg!