 Facade Autonomy: a study of the 80s facades at Aker Brygge

Student project

Markus Bengtsson

Diploma

Diploma fall 2023

Facade Autonomy: a study of the 80s facades at Aker Brygge

A central effect of global capitalism is the pressure for change. Urban patterns and building programs are increasingly becoming redundant, demanding change to accommodate new functions, identities and economies. When urban areas are being refurbished, so are also the additional facades. With ambitious environmental goals, existing buildings are re-clad with new, efficient facade sys-tems, resulting in the disposal of old materials as waste. However, in the context of climate change, this waste poses a significant burden on the planet.

Rather than attempting to build our way out of the problem by fo-cusing on new and sustainable structures, there is a newfound ur-gency for contemporary architectural culture to address the pres-sure for change through alternative methods. Instead of simply discarding the old, there is a growing need to explore and harness the potential of existing structures.
This diploma investigates possibilities for repurposing the already existing facade materials in the creation of new facades. The proj-ect is exploratory and does not seek to find the one right answer, but rather to find new strategies when dealing with the already built. The facade study delves into inquiries surrounding the con-cepts of authenticity and deception, examining how facades serve as conveyors of representation and language.
In the previous course Re-store: Petroleum, a fascination emerged for the Aker Brygge area in Oslo. How in the 80s, the transfor-mation from an industrial hub to a mixed use development, they chose to preserve certain fragments of the past, such as the fa-cades to emphasize the historicity of the place. The study looks at previous examples of transformations dealing with the facades at Aker Brygge from different times. Different preservationstrategies that reflects on how the transformations affects the areas identity and cultural heritage.

The study is broad and explores numerous themes that could have been further pursued. Due to the absence of a specific order, it led me to wherever I found it intriguing at the moment, guiding me into new paths that I found fascinating.

Markus Bengtsson

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Facade Autonomy: a study of the 80s facades at Aker Brygge

Facade Autonomy: a study of the 80s facades at Aker Brygge