Young Norwegian architects meet spring with birdsong and tailored spaces

What characterises the present generation of young Norwegian architects and how are they positioning themselves in Norway and internationally? Who are these architects and what are their concerns? How are they creating and shaping innovative advances, and to what extent will they make their mark on the architecture of the future?

«Under 40. Young Norwegian Architecture 2013», The National Museum – Architecture 3 May –8/29 September 2013.

The exhibition, entitled «Under 40. Young Norwegian Architecture 2013»presents eleven young firms of architects with partners under 40 years of age. The exhibits include a 50m² architectonic installation – Corporeal Space – tailored to the human form and the exhibition, 100 nesting boxes with birdsong from vulnerable species, a seedling station, a building block workshop, a transformed Shell station in Karasjok, a harbour promenade with a maritime atmosphere and an interior concept with an interdisciplinary perspective.

The firms of architects represented in the exhibition are: Atelier Oslo, CTRL+N (Control New Architecture DA), The Communal Project of Converging the City (FFB)  (FFB), Huus og Heim Architecture, Eriksen Skajaa Architects, Lala Tøyen, MDH Architects, Rodeo Architects, Superunion Architects, SFOSL and Tyin tegnestue Architects.

Norway’s professional architectural environment is a small one in which close bonds are forged. The firms taking part in the exhibition have different approaches to architecture, although they are founded on common experiences and a common future. One exhibition space is therefore laid out like a small town, in which the eleven firms of architects each present their work in a separate module with models, photographs, videos, drawings and installations.

All eleven firms were also invited to develop a concept for a full-scale installation in the Ulltveit-Moe pavilion, Sverre Fehn’s distinctively designed exhibition hall. The two that were ultimately chosen – –House of a Medley of Norwegian Birds by Huus og Heim Arkitektur and Corporeal Space by Atelier Oslo – play directly on our senses: one in the form of sound, the other as it examines the encounter between corporeality and architecture. Both installations touch on aspects and issues associated with sustainability, climate concerns and our relationship with nature and space. 

These are aspects that concern many of today’s young architects. Other common traits are a great degree of internationalisation, the use of digital tools as a matter of course that was hardly conceivable just ten years ago, and a strong awareness of the role of the architect in the tensility between aesthetics and functionality.

The exhibition examines the extent to which today’s young architects differentiate themselves from their predecessors and what we like to refer to as the post-Fehn generation. It shows how the young document the market segments in which they are establishing a foothold and how they carve out niches for themselves in order to gain assignments.

The exhibition is divided into two parts. The presentation of the eleven firms of architects in the Bucher Hall runs until 8 September, while the installations in the Ulltveit-Moe pavilion will be on display until 29 September.

An exhibition catalogue is available with articles by Dr. Lisbet Harboe, curator Anne Marit Lunde and others.

Exhibition curator: Anne Marit Lunde, anne.lunde@nasjonalmuseet.no, tel.: +47 97530962.

Project manager: Nina Frang Høyum, nina.hoyum@nasjonalmuseet.no, tel.: +47 48034852.

Exhibition architect: Line Kaasine.