JA

Back in Oslo for at least a year (and it feels great).

Picture taken on 13th August by yours truly. The word "ja" means "yes" in Norwegian (which supposedly is one of the easiest languages to learn for people with English as their native tongue).

REVIVAL

The Deichman library in Oslo. Liberal Greek revival, Nils Reiersen 1933.

During the course of architectural history, it has happened any times that the aesthetic ideals of an early period have once again become important. Different styles, such as Gothic, Egyptian, Baroque and not at least, Classicism, have haunted the drawing boards of architects in different versions even up until today.

Bragernes church in Drammen. Backsteingotik revival,  Ernst Norgrenn 1872.

Viewing something from a distance provides a person with a certain clarity, an overview which can be hard to obtain when you're in the middle of it. For this reasons, revivals can, in my opinion, be just as great as the originals, although maybe in a different way. Taking a step back has its drawbacks, but that shouldn't be a reason to back off and not to try to do something which you believe would be great.

National Bank of Greece in Nafplio. Mycenaean (!) revival, Zouboulidis ca 1930.

 This blog has been dormant for many months now, not unlike an architectural language which is abandoned in favour of another, but still stays there, behind the curtains. And this is my attempt at a revival of what Not Another Architecture Student has been. Throughout three years of studies, the blog has been my incidental diary for architectural discoveries, a place to scribble down new ideas, a channel for pouring out love and hate in the realm of buildings and cities, and a way to come in contact with some interesting people.

Helga Eng's Hall, Blindern. Playful functionalist revival, LMR arkitektur 1994.

 I have now finished the first part of my masters degree in architecture, equivalent to an undergraduate or bachelors degree. During the year to come, I will work full-time as a paid intern in a very interesting architectural firm called LMR arkitektur. Although a relatively old company, they are a curious and innovative bunch, and I'm looking very much forward to learning from them and contributing with what I may have.

University library at Blindern. Monumentalist revival? LMR arkitektur 1999.

In the year to come, this blog will again become important. Moving home to Oslo will provide me with a new perspective, and new objects to investigate. One of the places I really want to explore, is the university campus, which goes by the name of Blindern, named after the former farm whose land it now occupies. This is a strange and wonderful place, full of ugly buildings and beautiful parks, loved by many for their contents and by few for their looks and interface. I will probably return to Bergen next fall, but I'll also apply to do my masters at other schools, so nothing is certain. Wish me luck!


Yours truly,

K

University library at Blindern. Treetrunk revival? LMR arkitektur, 1999.

PS. Fictional Friday will be back, too!

PORTFOLIO

Shit pommes frites! (Norwegian expression) It's been more than a month since I last wrote anything here. Sorry to my wonderful readers who have missed the quirky architecture and all-over-the-place references. I've been very busy with school, but most importantly: Making a portfolio! I'm sending it out to different offices these days, so wish me luck!

Oh, and here's the portfolio. You can even download it if you want to:

http://issuu.com/hoff-andersen/docs/portef__lje_2013_issuu_ii

(In Norwegian so far)

MUST BE I'M FORGOTTEN YOU'RE NOT THOUGH

The fountain is still standing, 108 years later. Meet you there?

(Architect: Frederick Olmsted. Picture credit: Collection of James Mendola, Buffalo, NY)

A CALL FOR ACTION

Surfing Wikipedia looking for cool pictures of monasteries, I found this picture after reading the article about the Ursuline order. It bears the title "Looking North from Ursuline Academy, Showing Wrecked Negro High School Building" (very direct language, don't you think?). The 1900 Galveston hurricane is the deadliest natural disaster ever to have struck the United States, with an estimated death toll of between 6,000 and 12,000 people.

While this was happening, Barack Obama's second inauguration was taking place in Washington, DC. (If you're bothered by me posting a picture with a title containing the word "negro" while writing about Obama, please remember that he's not any more "black" than "white".) Here, he finally spoke of the main challenge of this age in human history:

'We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries — we must claim its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.'

Although this picture was taken long before the scientific proof of climate change was established, please let it be a reminder of what lies ahead, if this generation fails to take action.

SCALE (AND ARPEGGIOS)

In architecture, we talk about scale a lot. In my first year spring project, I added a tower to an already quite large barn that I remodeled into a house. The tower was twice as tall as the barn, and I was accused of not understanding the scale of the place.

This autumn, I've been working with urban fabric in a part of Bergen where the buildings and streets have very different scales.

I even have a book called "Scale in Architecture, and let's not forget the architect's scale!

The only problem is this: Every time someone mentions the word 'scale' (including yours truly), I immediately start humming this song. It's unstoppable. Help me.

PS. I love "The Aristocats" (and their house).

PRESENTATION

Today was my first presentation about architecture at BAS without drawings or models. I was presenting my essay concerning sustainability and the use of local materials, showing mostly pictures and telling about my findings and my views, and the response was good. I've done loads of presentations before, but this one was the first about architecture in a theoretical perspective, so I was a bit nervous. All the more rewarding when people came up to me afterwards and told me that it was exciting and focused!

The picture is of the village of Rocamadour in France, a great example of how the use of local materials (in this case limestone from the cliff on which the village itself stands) can result in "an unrestrained harmony", to quote the essay. (Ha ha, I'm so pretentious!) Picture credits: Wikimedia Commons.

FICTIONAL FRIDAY: PUSHWAGNER'S SOFT CITY

In the early 1970s, the Norwegian artist Hariton Pushwagner created a dystopian vision of the modern city, with cars, monotony and soulless architecture, called Soft City. In this amazing series of drawings, he showed a day in this horrible society where identity is history, variation is fault and likeness the prime virtue. In many ways, this was probably nor only a reflection of Pushwagner's political views, but just as much a reaction to how Norwegian architecture was developing at the time.

One example can be found in Fantoft student hostel in Bergen, where repetition, uniformity, lack og scale and boring and ugle materials are combined with boring setting to create something that could easily have inspired Pushwagner.

The artist kept returning to Soft City, and not all of these drawing come from the original series. A book with the first edition of Soft city was published some years ago. I own a copy, but I'm not sure if it can be bought online. The ISBN number is 9788291187785, and the book is very much recommended.

Finally, a short film version of Soft City:

GO FORTH

Decay and optimism for a new decade.

WEAR SUNSCREEN

We were talking about this song in the classroom some time ago. I'm doing great in Kenya, but I miss you guys!

TEAM BUILDING

What is a team building? I have no idea, but this is what it looks like, according to a hotel advertisement we found last week.

Photographer: Kristian Hoff-Andersen
Model: Heidi Norum

CORNELL CRISIS/THE DESIGNER

Milstein's Downfall from maestro on Vimeo.

CLASSICISM WITH DANCING HIPPOPOTAMUSES

If this doesn't cheer you up a bit...

The brilliant version of Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours from Disney's 1940 film Fantasia. Notice the slightly absurd, very formal pieces of architecture and lanscaping. And watch it in fullscreen mode. ("Hippopotamuses"!  How I love the English language.)

Edit 8th May 2012: Had to find the video somewhere else on Youtube, as the one I posted originally has been removed. Please ignore the voice speaking (in what sounds like a slavonic language) during the first twenty seconds; it disappears quickly.

MOEBIUS SHIP

The lovely Möbius ship by artist Tim Hawkinson, the figurative cousin of the one-sided surface called the Möbius strip. Pun intended, I presume. Image is the courtesy of the artist. 

NORWEGIAN PARTY

As some of you might know, writing texts in English may lead to people from other countries reading them. My blog gets visits from many parts of the world, and during the last week I've had hits from such countries as the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Australia, India, Egypt, South Korea, Argentina, Brazil and Ukraine. It seems most of these are visits to older posts, but in case any of my visitors should wonder what my native country of Norway is like, I'm posting this video: