Energy and architecture are inseparable phenomena. Throughout history, the manufacturing of buildings has been governed by the human-, animal- and machine-power available at the time of conception. The question of heating and cooling of indoor environments has continually resulted in spatial innovations. Energy, in the form of speed and flight, has spurred architects´ imaginations since the industrial revolution.
Energy production has resulted in spectacular buildings and infrastructure that are today considered essential parts of our built heritage. Today, buildings are measured as “embodied energy”, manifested as energy consumed when sourcing and transporting the material to site and energy spent during construction, through operation and maintenance, and through recycling, transformation, and demolition. Knowing that buildings represent 30% of the world´s total material consumption, 35% of greenhouse gas emissions, and 42% of total energy consumption, an intense focus on energy is inevitable.
However, to tackle today´s climate crises require not only quantitative considerations; it demands serious qualitative examinations of how architecture will be affected in regard to its historical, aesthetical, and ethical sides. This studio aims to develop wholistic alternatives for how to tackle our time´s climate crises through, innovative and radical architectural propositions.
Taking the “Dampsentralen” building in Oslo as a point of departure, students have undertaken a broad examination of the relationship between energy and architecture, spanning from studies on how energy has affected architectural form through time, how the operations of energy production and distribution have evolved, how energy is manifested through networks and shifting ownership, and how energy is handled in popular culture and society at large. The building in question have been thoroughly examined through archival studies, on-site surveys, and qualitative explorations. Students have developed concrete design projects proposing how to transform the building for the future. The course has had a strong emphasis on form and tectonics, and encouraged the students to conduct architectural investigations and develop their own architectural language through model-making, drawing, and 1:1 experiments throughout the whole semester.
The studio is part of the research project Provenance Projected. Architecture Past and Future in the Era of Circularity.