REFORM | Mastercourse at Bergen School of Architecture | Fall 2022

Teachers:
Pavlina Lucas, APP (course responsible) | Magnus Wåge, APP | Sverre Sondresen, APP | Bernice Donszelmann, DAV

Students:
Fredrik Grindstrand Dikvold, Emma Esmeralda Domino, Matilde Cutler Van Den Heuvel, Hanna Kiste, Jennifer Sofia Caroline Lundinner, Emelie Mason, Veronica Olsen, Maria Emmaliisa Reinikainen, Truls Sandanbråten, Ole Nåvik Sund.


Course description

Reduce, recycle, reuse - mottos of our time. The practice of architecture and urban development – traditionally part and parcel of a culture of unleashed consumption and of systems driven by "new" and "more" – needs to be rethought. REform delves into the theme of transformation with the eyes of our time and explores this, beyond the practice of conserving heritage, as a key ingredient for an updated attitude towards the production and use of architectural space.

Working with existing structures, we tapped into the pulse of cultural and economic changes and rehearsed how our built environment can absorb and participate in these shifting conditions. What elements have high resistance to change? Which aspects can be easily transformed? What possibilities for change arise from new patterns of living and working? What strategies can be applied to achieve radical reduction, recycling and reuse?

Pedagogical approach

We learned by doing. Concepts were constantly under development in response to findings. Using a range of methods – architectural and artistic – we registered and studied the sites and their context. In the process we unveiled, discovered, analysed, reflected, and advanced the proposals. We looked into the different performative aspects of the proposals and the interaction between these – for example function, structure, materials, envelop, energy use, etc – and develop strategies to deal with these themes. The projects that emerged from the course form collectively an atlas of possible answers that incite more questions and open up for further investigations.

Learning outcomes

Students gained experience in working within a tight set of physical, historical and societal parameters and they expanded their capacity to develop and communicate a complex architectural proposal. By drawing on and transforming existing structures, they sharpened their skills of observation and gained knowledge in structural systems, construction methods and architectural details.

Course structure

In this second edition of the course we worked with buildings/sites at the old harbour of Ørnes, Meløy municipality in Nordland. Students chose a building/site in this area and developed a precise architectural proposal for its transformation. During our stay in Ørnes students rehearseed acts of reform in 1:1. These constituted a beginning for the architectural proposals developed during the semester.