BE LONGING

Will he recall the prison
of field and shore,
a world that now is vanished,
that sings no more?

Will he renew the music
of virgin choirs,
the life of holy rapture
that never tires?

From the poem The Disguised God, by Hjalmar Gullberg, translation by John Michael Hearne. The poem was made into a lyrical suite by the composer Lars-Erik Larsson in 1940.

TOWNHOUSES PT. I/II (WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW)

 

What the world needs now,
Is townhouses,
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.
What the world needs now,
Is townhouses,
No, not just for some but for all who want one.

Lord, we don't need another detached house,
There are garages, front lawns enough for now,
There are highways and playgrounds enough to cross,
Enough to last 'til the end of time.

What the world needs now,
Is townhouses,
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.
What the world needs now,
Is townhouses,
No, not just for some but for all who want one.

Lord, we don't need another tower block,
There are parking lots, concrete and loneliness,
There is a social apartheid thanks to Le Corb,
Oh listen Lord, if you want to know...oh...

What the world needs now,
Is townhouses,
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.

What the world needs now,
Is townhouses,
No, not just for some oh but just for all who really want one.

What the world needs now,
Is townhouses.
What the world needs now,
Is townhouses.
What the world needs now,
Is townhouses.

 

(Apologies to B. Bacharach, H. David and J. DeShannon)

Picture from Wikipedia

LILACS!

Photo by Mathilde Rønning

Sometimes, Bergen can be just like this. The sun is shining, the lilacs are bursting into bloom and their exquisite smell complements the white painted old wooden houses while I look skinnier than I really am.

GREEN FUR

Came across this picture earlier today while I was surfing Wikipedia, looking for a two-syllable word meaning "single-family detached home" (more about that later, probably on Sunday). 

Anyway, I love how this house in Germany seems to have grown a green fur of sorts, which makes it look very peaceful and protected. Most of the original architecture is hidden and this is perhaps an extreme example, but it also shows the humanizing potential of climbing plants on façades.

IT'S THE SUN!

Yesterday was the first day of summer in the calendar, and a day filled with sun. I have some major design work to do this week, as the presentation of our final project for the first year is to be ready by Sunday evening, but after that, vacation starts.

INTERESTING QUESTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS

1. How come so many people tend to associate the word "ugly" with industrial materials when talking about building and architecture, whereas the word "beautiful" will often be associated with natural materials?

Do they the industrial materials unfamiliar to people, even after centuries of being surrounded by them? 

 

Is it their lack of complexity?

 

Perhaps it has something to do with the way weather and age? Most industrial materials look their best when they're new.

2. How come some many architects and designers refuse to accept this fact and its consequences?

Perhaps they're just completely in love with the not very subtle contrast between natural and industrial materials?

 

Is it because so many architects hope to annoy people when they live, and get famous after their death?

 

Is it because they have an obsession with their work looking "modern"?

Could it be that they consider their own way of experiencing a building to be a lot more important than everyone else's, and hope to convert people to the better by exposing them to what they don't like, again and again, until their sensitivity disappears?

 Are they afraid of being called nostalgic if they use traditional materials, such as local wood and stone, earth, brick, straw and turf?

 

I am curious about your answers, and though my questions are rhetorical, they're also quite honest. Please comment on this blog post if you have any thoughts.

 

Is this better? And if so, how come? (I love it, but I'm not quite sure why.)

RECONSTRUCTION

On the way to school, three burnt-down warehouses by the sea are being reconstructed. It's quite fascinating to follow process, where the buildings are in different stages of being rebuilt.

They also raise some questions: Are artisan methods being used? Should they be? What should the buildings look like? One of last year's diploma student suggested they be constructed to echo the shapes of the original buildings, but nor the materials and methods of construction. It appears to me that they're now partly using newer forms of construction and materials, such as a steel frame and doors made from MDF or something similar, whereas the façades will be copies of the ones who were there before the fire.

I guess it has something to do with wanting to tell the history of the place through the architecture, but the fire is also a part of that history. However, the old façades were nice to look at and were very familiar to the people who live in and pass through this area, like the faces of old friends. Maybe they'll be happy to see them back, in a year or so?

WHEN WE MET THE VERY STRICT OWL

This weekend included many more or less unusual happenings. One of these took place when my friend Stine Renate and I visited the Historical museum in Oslo. The museum is a beautiful building, built in 1903 in a monumental and yet friendly style, and filled with magnificent architectural elements. The architect, Henrik Bull, especially paid much attention to the details in the building, applying a decorative style that mixed ancient Nordic ornamentation with the aesthetic of Art Nouvau, and utilising plaster mouldings, carved stone, stucco marble, oak wood and stained glass among other fine materials, he gave this grand building a human scale.

While pretending we didn't know we were sneaking into rooms we weren't supposed to be in, we discovered this owl. We never figured out why he was so strict, but afterwards, we noticed owls everywhere in the building's ornamentation, including one flying upside down, and (a granite) one holding up a column in the staircase. The owls are supposed symbolically to represent wisdom, I guess, but the symbolic part really doesn't matter very much to me, as they look cool and bring the building to life anyway.  I can't help but finding these sorts of elements in Art Nouveau and other kinds of ornamented architecture infinitely charming; and I guess there might be something in the way they seem to watch over the building and its surroundings.

I DREAMED A DREAM

Actually, my dream was about my class and I going to a house where we would slide up slides (!) past many different types of ice cream that we could buy if we pointed at them.

But this picture looked like it could have been taken in a dream, doesn't it? It was taken today at the University Botanical Garden in Oslo, inside one of the newly restored greenhouses. These 19th century buildings are build out of iron, brick, stone and glass, and use the thermal mass of the heavy materials to save the heat that enter them in day, and release it during the night. The restorations were executed in a very nice manner, with real stucco on the walls, lots of new beautiful and interesting plants and great detailing. Thanks to Gro Mette for showing me. Oh, by the way, the waterlilies on the picture are called Victoria waterlilies, and when full grown, are strong enough to hold little children.

GATES BE GONE!

For some time now, there has been a discussion as to whether the gates outside the school should be removed, and parts of the grounds opened to the public as a sort of common land, where people can meet and come down to the water. I have loved the idea from the start, and was very happy when I came to school yesterday the gates were gone. I suddenly felt that the street and pavement and surroundings were connected to the landscape in a whole new way.

The common land ("allmenning") is a very distinct feature of the city planning in Bergen, where large strips of land go all the way from the sea to the forest and mountain, thereby bringing air, open space and a view into the city. If a decision was made to create a "BAS common", we would be able to contribute to a better environment for people in our part of Bergen, so I hope the gates will continue to be gone, so that people will get the chance to be present.

STAIRS

An assertion: The best stairs are the ones that provide a chance to strike a really good pose.

KANGAROO

"No kangaroos allowed in the playground!" I love pictographs. Saw this one a few days ago while taking a walk in the park.