STUMP HOUSE

To live in a stump house! How wonderful is this? From the Jim Linderman collection, who also published a book of arcane americana, with this picture and many others.

LYNGDALIAN HOUSE

Visiting a friend of mine in Lyngdal, Southern Norway a few weeks ago, we stumbled across this weird and wonderful house and garden, lying peacefully next to the road. I doubt that an architect lives here, but the people who do, have taken their liberties in creating something unusual, adding both a small tower and miniature italianate box planting in the middle of the Norwegian agricultural landscape. I can't help but love when people take control of their surroundings in this way, often creating something unique and infinitely charming as they go along.

LEAF CEILING

This amazing ceiling made of linden trees can be found at Blindernveien in Oslo, and creates a room as good as any.

The technique is called pollarding in English, and is an excellent way of renewing trees.

MIDNIGHT CITY (ARRIVAL IN HAMBURG)

Midnight City from M83 on Vimeo.


Waiting in a car.
Waiting for a ride in the dark.
The night city grows.
Look and see her eye, the glow.
Waiting in a car.
Waiting for a ride in the dark.
Drinking in the lounge.
Following the neon signs.
Waiting for a roar.
Looking at a mutating skyline.
The city is my church.
It wraps me in the sparlking twilight.
Waiting in a car.
Waiting for the right time.
Waiting in a car.
Waiting for the right time.
Waiting in a car.
Waiting for the right time.
Waiting in a car.
Waiting for the right time.
Waiting in a car.
Waiting for a ride in the dark.

FLAMING BRICK WALLS

What can shadows do to buildings? Here's one example. A brick wall, simple on the verge of being boring, suddenly looks almost like it's burning, just from the shadow of some nearby trees. The photo was taken in a student village where the office is currently doing some redesign work.

COMPLEX BUILDING

Today was the start of our mini-diploma: the complex building course. Over the next three months, the class will be exploring, investigating and finally redesigning parts of Haukalnd University Hospital in Bergen, Norway. This is the concept sketch I presented:

Wish me luck!

THOMAS AND THE GOAT WILLOWS

My former classmate Thomas is the definition of sympathetic, and a rather clever tree-bender. At the beginning of our secound year, we joined forces in attacking a couple of goat willows with our braiding abilities and our sharp scissors, creating, as you can see, something looks like a rather nice tree, out of what used to be just a mess.

Last week, we followed up by not only re-pruning the first trees, but also making sense of several other bushy things of the kind which keep popping up around our school. I completely forgot to do a before-shot, but above, the reader may see what it looked like afterwards. Another shot below, with the sunset, Thomas, yours truly and the tree, in that order.

To find out more about creative bending, braiding an dpruning of living trees, check out Ivan Hicks' book Tricks with trees, of which I own a much-loved copy.

EVENING SCHOOLYARD

I had actually forgotten how good I feel when spending my nights at school.

FICTIONAL FRIDAY: THE HOBBIT

For all lovers of fantasy architecture: This will be great. Get ready to return to pointed arches in Lórien, grass-covered walls and round doors in the Shire, lighweight Art Nouveau in Rivendell and heavy underground Dwarf walls of solid stone. I simply can't wait.

THE UNIVERSE AS SEEN FROM UTØYA ISLAND

If you look long enough, you'll see how the trees spell out the word 'love'.

PINE HORIZON

You might have heard of the pines of Rome, but what about the pines of Skjeberg?

As some old readers may have noticed, I'm very much concerned with how the architecture we create, meets the sky. In nature, the horizon is never boring, but in architecture, it often is. So maybe, the next time you're out there shaping a part of your fellow citizens' horizon, in the shape of a roofline, a garden or a tree-lined street, and you think it looks too simple, maybe you should consider using a pine? They grow into all kinds of shapes and sizes, smell nice, and produce cones than are fun to play with.

As for the picture, it looked better the way it was taken, a bit tilted, and depicts me and my friend Freja-Lina in between all the pines.

THE ARCHITECTURE OF FRIENDS

My friends Terry and Maurice are currently visiting from Kenya, and on Tuesday our friend Heidi joined us for a day of hanging out in my hometown Drammen, having fun, eating food, taking pictures and looking at cool architecture.

This rather fabulous picture was taken in the garden of Gulskogen Manor, a wooden summer residence built for the Arbo family at the end of the 18th century. Designed to resemble European stone architecture and painted in a sand-beige colour, the house is set in a magnificent garden, with rows of trees, big lawns, duck ponds, small canals with bridges, granite stairs, herb gardens, a maze and dozens of birds, including peacocks.

Last image by Heidi Leona Norum.

THE STORY OF A TRELLIS

Rummaging through Facebook earlier, I found this very nice picture of my friend Jon-Arne and his friend Isabelle standing under a beautiful trellis in what appeared to be a park of some kind. I got curious about the age and designer of this piece, and after getting some vague description of "Boston, down by the harbour", I employed my superb googling skills, using such search terms as "Boston harbour", "Boston trellis architect" and "Columbus park architect", and I eventually found what I was looking for.

It appears the park and the trellises was somehow threatened by a complete redesign in the early 2000s, which resulted in a preservation campaign and several articles written, including this very enlightening one. I guess it went ok; at least the trellises were saved.

Architects were Sasaki Associates, which seems to be a very interesting practice, especially when it comes to landscape architecture. Their project description with more pictures is here. The park was built in 1976 as an initiation of a major waterfront redevelopment in Boston, clearing old sites and roads to connect the city with the water in a mindful combination of greenery and open space. As a reflection of the site's past as a harbour, materials such as wood, iron, brick and granite are used in a diverse manner throughout the site. I especially appreciate how the space between the water and the streets going down towards it is kept completely open. I imagine this provides people with an opportunity to see the water from within the urban fabric and get a feeling of the landscape.

The beautiful geometry of the trellises oveergrown with Wisterias seem to fascinate many people. There's a "Trellis lighting" here every December, people seem to like hanging around next to them, and an abstracted version is even the logo of Friends of Christopher Columbus Park.

Picture credits:

I: Jon-Arne Bilben Haughseth
II: FOCCP
III: Sasaki Associates
IV: Sasaki Associates
V: FOCCP

I MISS KENYA

From the camp we stayed at in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya.

JOHANNE AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS

"Look at that! How incredibly beautiful! Oh my! I'm not that used to having cherry trees around, you know." - Johanne, ecstatically discovering the blossoming cherry trees at St. Olavs plass, Oslo. I love spring.

UNKNOWN TREE

While we were staying in Mombasa, there was a tree growing outside the gates to our hostel. It had lots of  orange flowers and green blobs that might have been either fruits or buds.

I find the shapes of these flowers to be very interesting. I think it might be the unfolding that makes them look so cool, maybe because there seems to be so much movement in a things that's more or less standing still. I blame the nice curves.

Oh, and I have no idea what the tree is called, so if you do, please tell me.

ROTUNDA

An impression of the year at The Rotunda in the grounds of the University of Virginia, designed by Thomas Jefferson and completed in 1826.

NEW PARK AT TULLINLOKKA

In the middle of Oslo there's a parking space called Tullinløkka. (An interesting and elaborate article about Tullinløkka, unfortunately in Norwegian, can be found here.) A former playground for children and other sports enthusiasts, bicycle riding ground, gatherings pace for demonstrations, the city council has been trying to get something built there for more than a hundred years, but to no success. However, after what seems like a hundred competitions, suggesting among others museums with green spaces on their roofs, classicistic buildings with columns and multi-storey car parks, someone has suddenly made a decision to build a "temporary" park at Tullinløkka. There are also rumours that a 22nd July memorial will be placed in time. The picture shows small parts of the National Gallery to the left, the Historical Museum to the right and the main building of the University of Oslo in the middle.  As of now, I'm following the building of the park from my living room window, and will probably be updating with more pictures after a while.

PS. The temporary petrol station at Tullinløkka stayed there for 56 years.

NICE CURVES

Woosh! 

(I love concave buildings in cities.)

Adamstuen, Oslo, Norway. August 2011.

QUEERS AND CAMERAS

I spent last week at a wonderful queer festival (That's new speak for gay camp) in Southern Norway. Going by the name of Jafnadhr, which is said to mean "justice" or something like it in Old Norse, it's an annual happening, organized by the organisation I'll be working for in the year to come, Skeiv ungdom (Queer youth).

All in all, it was a very nice week. The people were friendly, the shows were funny, the dinners (when there was enough food) were fabulous and the weather was fine. In between all the socializing, debates and bathing, there was also time to group up and learn about a lot of different subjects, and I joined a photography group, lead by the magnificent Mathilde Nicoline Bergersen (Check out her beautiful blog.). I own a rather simple compact camera which I bring everywhere, and use among other things to take most of the pictures of this blog, and I learned a thing or two about good techniques, composition and editing. I also took some pictures I was pleased with, including a few self portraits, group pictures and colour studies. Have a look.

Thanks to everyone at Jafnadhr 2011!