The Architecture and the Archives studio series aims to address the expanding scope of evidence used to value existing buildings in projects of restoration, reconfiguration or adaption. As methods for valuing architecture develop, existing buildings are often the focus of intense argument involving cultural, political and economic debate. Both public pressure and ecological concern make the threshold for demolishing existing buildings ever higher, and assessing when a building’s life is over, or when to advocate repair and reuse, requires a new set of skills from the architect. Tools and methods borrowed from architectural history and theory, preservation and curatorial practices are used to comprehend and communicate cultural meaning. Knowledge about a building’s conception, construction and materials, as well as its previous function and its ownership history, are all relevant. This studio series expands the Norwegian canon by investigating buildings and architects on the border of mainstream narratives. Students adopt a twofold archival and curatorial approach, researching individual architectural objects and producing display material. Working methods range from archival research, site surveys, re-drawing and re-modelling, to reading seminars and discussions with invited speakers, and to the development of exhibition ideas and the design and construction of display cases.

Former studios and seminars in the series have been taught by Mari Lending and Mari Hvattum, with exhibitions at Kunstnernes Hus, the Norwegian Parliament, the Architecture Museum, and the Museum of Cultural History.

The Re-Store teaching unit offers new perspectives on the preservation, reuse and transformation of architectural heritage from the recent past, with a special focus on the provenance of building systems, components and materials. Taking an Experimental Preservation approach, the unit responds to the challenges of the climate crisis by renegotiating the way we understand, evaluate, and transform the built environment. Through MA studios and seminars, the unit aims to reinvigorate the discipline by challenging the prevailing ideas of authorship, origins and the integrity of the architectural monument. Engaged in a wide range of practices counting archival studies, value assessment methods, restoration techniques, survey practices, model building, drawing, writing and dissemination, the students are trained to participate in the contemporary discourse with a critical mindset and high design skills. Recent studios have focused on concrete, building systems, prefabrication, building components, petroleum and weather. Re-Store publications include the Tabula Plena (2016), Experimental Preservation (2016) and Concrete Oslo (2018).

Former Re-Store faculty: Andreas Angelidakis, Thordis Arrhenius, Bård Helland, Amandine Kastler, Jorge Otero-Pailos, Andrea Pinochet, Kim Pløhn, Alena Rieger, Bryony Roberts, Ingrid Dobloug Roede, Erlend Skjeseth, Jørgen Tandberg, Kjetil Sæterdal, Léa-Catherine Szacka, Helle Bendixen Trier, Espen Vatn.

Transformation in Practice proposes a critical and design-oriented approach to working with existing buildings in general practice, often dealing with the metamorphosis of ordinary everyday structures and places. A paradigm shift can be seen across the discipline of architecture, as a more sustainable building culture necessitates reuse first and new-build second. However, these seemingly opposing approaches are not exclusive since adapting an existing building for continued or new use regularly involves transformation through addition. Working within the constraints and resources of a particular site and its surroundings, the studio engages with the changing contingencies that inform built work. Budgets, environmental targets, or regulatory frameworks are embraced as opportunities for architectural ingenuity rather than limitations. Ideas of provenance are explored to create resonance between existing and new and studio teaching is guided by the principle that research, in its variety of forms, cannot be distinguished from propositional thinking. Rather, the act of reading, observing, surveying, and fabricating new artifacts is all propositional by nature and therefore a powerful asset within design thinking. Building on an expanded definition of context projects in the studio engage with the transformation, connection, and extension of existing buildings, as well the design of autonomous new additions. The Transformation in Practice studio and seminar series are closely linked to the practice work of Kastler Skjeseth Architects.