Throwback to this year’s Oslo Urban Week

Kvadraturen and back to the future

Photo: A-lab. An informal political debate about the state of Oslo’s architecture and future visions. 

This year’s Oslo Urban Week, a festival dedicated to everything urbanism in Oslo, had the theme “back to the future”. A-lab was strongly represented with several appearances and events where we got to launch several projects we have been working on. We got to launch the feasibility study for Hovinbyen Sirkulære Oslo (which can be read here). This is one of the most ambitious studies that we have worked on, as it foresees a future where cities can be developed according to circular principles and radical mix of functions. The study was a collaboration with Civitas. The study was officially handed over to the head of city council for urban development.

All photos by Liv M. Holm and OMA.

The second launch was our report on urban spaces and children. The report was a commission for the plan and building authority, where the mission was to map urban spaces and how they facilitate to children’s needs. To celebrate the launch A-lab hosted an event at the new campus for Kristiania Høyskole, a project we recently finished. Under the sculptural stairs named Yggdrasil, a little stage was set up for the event where we had invited the award-winning author Oliver Lovrenski to read out loud from his book “Da vi var yngre”. The book is an encounter of the lives of youths in Oslo. Our own Astri Margareta Dalseide interviewed Lovrensky about the book and how young people experience and use urban spaces. The event closed with a panel discussion about the findings of the reports.

All photos by A-Lab.

We also had an event about satellite cities with our client Gjelsten Bolig. Inspired by the festival’s theme, we wanted to look at old satellite cities to see what we can learn from them. We invited a panel which included a historian, Erlend Krogstad, who has written a book about the metro, Ola Skarr a representative from Ruter who works with urban planning, we had Kathinka Augustine as the voice of the developer and Haakon Riekeles, who spoke on behalf of the urban development committee.

All photos by WAL

Other appearances include: Geir Haaversen’s presentation on taxonomy and architecture for Multiconsult. How will a future where taxonomy is central affect architecture? More transformations using existing structures will be the reality in the near future. Geir showcased how the aesthetics might look like, but also how it demands a change in practices and the way we think about sustainability and development. Espen Veiby made an appearance at Malling’s event on Kvadraturen (the area of focus during this year’s OUW). He is our urban fabric tzar and delivered a diagnosis on why Kvadraturen struggles with being a vital place. Keywords being careful programming of the urban floor so that living there is tempting.

All photos by A-Lab.

Honorable mentions: the fjord cruise with HAV Eiendom where we got to look at the sites of our fjord projects, the good lunches, the theater bit with Gro and Kåre and of course the afterparty with the awards. We are already looking forward for next year!