When the illusion breaks

Should technical installations and construction elements be exposed, or hidden from view?

Having them exposed makes cleaning difficult, and creates unwanted visual distractions. Having them hidden, it is more difficult to understand the connections of  i.e. surveillance systems.

But with all illusions, people may start believing that what they see is all there is.



Sometimes the illusions break, by coincidence or intentionally:



In this case, the fake surveillance camera is supposed to indicate that it is connected to a larger system of cables hidden inside the wall. But the wall is rock solid.




Here, what appears to be a concrete wall is actually just a wooden wall with a thin layer of concrete:




Sometimes systems break down and reveal their inner workings and shortcomings to the audience it was supposed to serve:





It may be good that these things happen, because we are being reminded that illusions are a big part of our surroundings. The knowledge of how these illusions work can then be transformed and manifested in our personal life.

Alchemists of sound - BBC Radiophonic Workshop

Anyone interested in the connection between sound, mathematics and geometry should make themselves familiar with the works that was made in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop from 1958 until 1995. The full documentary can be seen here: http://www.ubu.com/film/bbc_alchemists.html

Some of the people interviewed also points out interesting facts about the general public's reaction to unfamiliar music and sound. The same reactions has been observed when it comes to modern architecture: traditionalists criticising something that does not correspond to their conventional  understanding of reality, which often are based on symbolic interpretations rather than objective reality.

Oskar Hansen / Open form symposium at Bergen School of Architecture August 31 and September 1, 2012

Program for the Oskar Hansen Symposium at BAS

 

The program for the Oskar Hansen Symposium is now ready. August 31, and September 1 are dedicated for Open Form lectures and workshops at BAS. All interested are also welcome to join the diploma censors lecture on August 30th from 1700-1900. This is a presentation of the diploma exhibition 2012.

OSKAR HANSEN SYMPOSIUM  2012  - AT BAS AUGUST  31. – SEPTEMBER 1.
- THEME: DEMOCRATIC ARCHITECTURE.
INTRODUCTION on August 30.  at 17.00 hrs, in the main lecture hall:
PRESENTATION OF THE DIPLOMA WORKS OF THE YEAR, by the international team of assessors.
THE OSKAR HANSEN ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM OF OPEN FORM,-  OPEN FOR ALL TO TAKE PART,             
will be joint with the summer seminar for the BAS Teachers, in mutual relation of 50/50.
 The symposium will be the year link of the BAS course, joining the diploma graduation and the matriculation of the new 1.year students, on September 1, which will be concluded by the welcome Speech of the BAS Rector Sixten Rahlff.
THE SYMPOSIUM PRESENTS ISSUES OF OPEN FORM (OF) - GREAT NUMBER (GN), FOR  A DEMOCRATIC ARCHITECTURE.
The members of the OPEN FORM 2 group (OF2) present the basic steps of Open Form teaching at BAS, and the crucial foundation elements of OF in practice. All the participants are invited to take part in the discussion and clarification, of the BAS target and the purpose of Open Form, in ideology and practice.
BAS is an alternative school of Architecture. Its program and clarification have to be discussed and developed continuously. The teachers of BAS are obliged to its ideology, program, and aim.

PROGRAM:
August 30.
17.00:  Presentation of the Diploma works 2012. By the Team of assessors.
August 31.
09.00 – 12.00: Session 1 – OPEN FORM, IN THE BAS STUDIES. THE SUBJECT BEFORE OBJECTS.
 The didactics, the backbone of the course, the progression, and methods. Discussion on Democratic Architecture vs Expressions of Power. The meaning of Open Form.

12.30 – 16.00: Session 2 – BUILDING ALONG FJORDS AND THE VALLEYS – URBANIZATION.
The Values of the Landscape and Settlements, and a new Architecture.

16.30 – 18.00: Session 3 – NEW BUILDINGS OF OPEN FORM, DEMOCRATIC EXPRESSION AND  G N. Public buildings, new student housing, student projects, in the city. Aims.

18.00 – 20.00: BREAK FOR DINNER.

20.00 – 21.30: Session 4 /BAF MEETING – ARCH.MNAL TERJE GRØNMO: GULATING LAW COURT.
Its new building in Bergen, in site, function, and expression.  O F Dem.expr.

September 1.
09.00-12.00: Session 5 – PHD of OPEN FORM. NEW AND NECESSARY / PART 3.

12.00-15.00: MATRICULATION CEREMONY for the new BAS students of the year.

Interiørregler for Bergegrendskollektivet

Overordnet regel er "alt til sin tid og sitt sted".

1. I hver sone kan det kun plasseres objekter som er relevante ift. sonens funksjon.
2. Dekor og symboler på objekter må oppfylle ett eller flere av følgende kriterier: [a] selvrefererende (til bruken, stedet og/eller prosjektet), [b] naturmotiver (men ikke i en romantiserende kontekst) [c] geometri/abstraksjon.
3. Personlige symboler er bare tillatt i privatsoner. Et objekt som inneholder et personlig symbol er likevel tillatt i felles soner så lenge det er i bruk av eieren.
   
   

Nonconventional use of materials

All materials have their own different logic, i.e. bricks and wood. According to some (more or less) popular architectural theories, a material should only be used according to its own logic. The reason for this is that the visual presence should show the actual construction, and not in any way act like an illusion of something else. But this implies that the viewer is a uninformed and thoughtless idiot who blindly accepts any illusion as the truth, and never question anything. Room For Space disagrees with this way of thinking. We do not disregard illusion, but enjoys playing with it.

Turning the logic of brick building upside-down.

A wall disguised as a roof

Concrete shaped like a wood construction. The material structure and functional structure follows different types of logic.

Concrete walls shaped like wood. The illusion has been made so obvious that it adds a quality to the building.

We believe that this type of deconstructivism is good, and that it helps understanding that rigid dogma-based rules is not the only answer, neither to architecture nor life in general.



Nonconventional use of materials by Sølve N.T. Lauvås is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The kitchen at Bergegrend

Organizing chaos through plural form.

The two form systems singular form and plural form both deals with organizing form elements from chaos, but builds on totally different types of form logic. Singular form sets one standard that all other forms must relate to. Plural form is about making all forms relate to each other (through the discipline of Visual Structure).

Just like with music, complex and multi-layered form systems in architecture are more appealing to some people than others. The question of form is not a discussion about modernism or traditionalism, masculinity or femininity, rationalism or intuition etc. It is a question of how each individual like to organize their own thoughts and world wiew.

Nidaros domkirke before restoration

Unfortunately, restoration works often has removed later additions in favour of singular form.

Palazzo Contarini della Scala or Dal Bovolo before restoration

Architectural drawing of proposed Field Museum building, no challenge for the viewer at all.

Dynamic relations between facade elements can only be achieved trough variation. In the next example, the dynamic expression is created by the different facades together, even though each individual facade is based on symmetry.



La Grande Place, the old houses, Brussels, Belgium.

Organizing chaos through plural form by Sølve N.T. Lauvås is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.