AARHUS SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE - MASTER'S DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURE
// Completion Date: September - December, 2022
// Project Location: Grünerløkka, Oslo
// Aarhus School of Architecture: (Tutor) Dan Erik Herman Ljungar
Located in the periphery of the district Grünerløkka in Oslo, the project attempts to transform and provide a potential mixed-use extension of the Oslo Academy of Arts, as well as address the fundamental issues of the urban scale of the existing conditions. The existing condition has a rigid housing block that sits next to the school, having its’ back side facing it, creating dark and cold outdoor areas with garbage bins and parking spaces. The topographic shift also creates a difficult circulation for people to hike up from the park towards the city. Furthermore, the site boundary created a productive fence that cuts off the big lawn on the south and the children’s park on the north. With the combined circumstances, the existing building certainly became a barrier to the city block. It is a very unfortunate situation yet with extreme potential for improvements and opportunities, therefore the transformation of this particular block has been chosen.
The Oslo Academy of Arts was historically a sailboat factory that produced sails and fishing equipment, predominantly fabric and nets. The original name of the building is Christiania Seildugsfabrik (established 1856, closed 1960) was one of the large factories of its time in Kristiania, and today one of the best-preserved industrial facilities along the Akers. In 1999, the buildings were designated to house the planned Art Academy in Oslo.
The school connects itself with this very clear circulation belt, bringing social spaces, workshops, classrooms and other facilities into this very clear and efficient organization. It make complete sense to continue this simple belt to the transformation project by bridging, connecting the exsisting school to the new development of the site. Therefore the first focus is to lock into that primary focus.
The massing also requires some adjustments, as the existing building creates massive urban misfortunes. The first adjustment would be eliminating the fence that cuts off the children’s park and big lawn. The massing is proposed to be pushed back to allow natural sunlight heat up the urban area as Oslo is predominantly a cold climate. It also allows views towards nature for the existing school, also allowing the southern solar to heat up the interior of the school to achieve thermal comfort. Therefore the design intent is to achieve both of these fundamental guidelines, and the massing will need to respect the parametres.
The landform typology aims to create an undulating and smooth circulation for the public. The idae is not to create a barrier, but a connector, stitching nature to the urban surroundings and allow the people to move freely through, in, out and under the building. There are many direct access from all sides of the site, and most importantly, the diagonal that connects the street level to the river, and the bridge that connects the school to the site.
APPENDIX
Further flooding, biodiversity, soil analysis, and future conditions study on the site of the district Grünerløkka in Oslo. Diagram below is done as a group work.
Credits and Team: Caimin Muldoon, Jeppe Grøndahl Schmidt, Jonas Skov, Søren Andersen, and Ray Lau
