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Mens noen trekker i tvil om det faktisk er en boligkrise, er det ganske sikkert at kommunene styrer mot betydelige kriser på grunn av måten vi bor på, skriver Ane S. Dahl og Henrik Lundberg.

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“Wood can connect the simple and the sublime.”

Louisiana Channel introduces – “We went to Norway to meet one of the rising stars in international architecture, Helen & Hard. With their insistence on community, sustainability and predominant usage of wood, they not only try to renew architecture itself but the way we live.“

Siv Helene Stangeland and Reinhard Kropf were interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner at various locations in and around Stavanger, Norway, in August 2022.

Camera: Simon Weyhe
Edited by: Simon Weyhe
Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2022

Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet, C.L. Davids Fond og Samling and Fritz Hansen. This film is supported by Dreyersfond.

Watch the video here

In the partnership between Helen & Hard and NEB-STAR, JammerJam shows an example of how more stakeholders can be included in early conversations about future development in a neighbourhood.

The film documents a process on-site inside a workshop. Here we draw and discuss a basis for a vision of the neighbourhood’s future, together with the municipality, a landowner, a developer, neighbours, a social entrepreneur, an artist and architect.

With drawing as a tool, architects can contribute to more inclusive processes and the concretisation of sustainability with aesthetics as a driving force.

Watch the film here: JammerJam

Film by Moxey.

The plan sketch and scale model from our project Geopark are now on view at MoMA in New York.

Geopark is a playground of transformed technology, formed by the recycled remnants of the oil industry in Stavanger, Norway’s oil capital. Elements waiting on the landbases outside the city and that are no longer needed, such as bright orange buoys, salvaged pipelines, and recycled drilling platforms, are moulded into a miniature recreation of the vast natural gas and oil field reservoir known as Troll. The geological layers hidden under the seabed are revealed through the playful topography of the park.

The transformation project was initiated by Helen & Hard and completed back in 2008. It was intended as a one year installation only. Yet today, 17 years later, this playground of oil industry artefacts still stands strong. It is a groundbreaking exploration of how Stavanger could transition from an oil-fuelled past into something more sustainable. A tangible and interactive example, Geopark sets a precedent in showing how all the technological innovation and expertise that the oil industry has provided can be reused to create a greener and more meaningful future. The design process involved workshops with the community and brought children on board. The aim was to invite a sense of curiosity and wonder, and to encourage involvement in shaping one’s own environment.

The works can be viewed as part of the Down to Earth exhibition, on Floor 2, Room 216, MoMA.

216: Down to Earth, MoMA

Excerpt from the publishers, TC Cuadernos:

In this new volume of Contemporary Architectures, we explore Norwegian architectural identity through a careful selection of projects spanning different generations of architects.

Norwegian architecture is characterized by a deep connection to nature, articulated through local materials – especially wood – and a minimalist approach that combines tradition and modernity. Its essence lies in the work with natural light and the care given to consider the natural and urban context of a site.

The concept of folkelynne, used by Johan Ellefsen in 1927, serves as a common thread, highlighting the connection between man and his local context. Architects such as Espen Surnevik and Helen & Hard materialize it in projects such as the PAN Tree Cabins or the Woodnest Hotel Cabin, where respect for the natural context becomes the guiding principle of the design.

Contemporary Architectures. Norway

Re-visiting SR-bank together with Arka just before Christmas. 
 
“I’m always delighted to experience how timber actually contributes to a work environment with such a vibrant pleasant atmosphere.”

– Siv Helene Stangeland

Watch the video here

The first episode of the Climate Salon podcast series, Radical Sustainable Living, features a conversation between architect and founder of Helen & Hard, Siv Helene Stangeland, designer Tom Dixon and architectural designer and product specialist at SketchUp, Sumele Adelana.

The host of the series, Dezeen’s design and environment editor Jennifer Hahn, speaks to the panel about how the choices we make in designing our homes, both inside and out, can encourage us to build and live in a more sustainable way.

Climate Salon: Radical Sustainable Living

A film by the team at BBC StoryWorks and Innovasjon Norge

We are proud to share an extract from a recent collaboration ‘Building Communities’ with the team at BBC StoryWorks and Innovasjon Norge as they explore “how a vision for quality, affordable, and sustainable housing for all across Europe can become a reality.” This vision closely aligns with the values and ambitions behind our architecture at Helen&Hard and it was therefore a privilege to share an insight into our practice as we continue to explore how to create socially and environmentally sustainable housing alternatives and to innovate with timber construction in today’s building industry. Learn more about the ‘Building Communities’ series via the BBC website// http://www.bbc.com/storyworks/building-communities/home/

Watch the talk here

How the Built Environment Shapes Our Lives

by Sarah Williams Goldhagen, HarperCollins Publishers.

Knowing about all the scrap coming from oil platforms back to the city. How can we recycle and transfer this material household and advanced technology and make a new architecture? How can we express these resources in the public domain? Siv tels the story behind the Geoparken project. 

Watch the talk here

Featured in an article on Archdaily

Excerpt from the article: “This is an example of the future workplace and one of Europe’s largest office buildings in timber. To make a large-scale bank in timber challenges the notion of a strong, robust bank, while breaking ground for the use of structural timber.”

Read the article here

Terracing house under a floating roof

Featured in an article on Archdaily.

Excerpt from the article: “Here one lives on four levels – and move through an inner landscape that is connected to the exterior landscape on every level. In this way, the house is organically adapted to the unique context.”

Read the article here.

Featured in an article on Archdaily.

Excerpt from the article: “A spatial symbol for a comprehensive education. The space in front of the classes is not a break room, but is used through the whole day as a central pedagogical forum. Parts of the forum are designed as niches for small groups and can even be separated with glass doors. Thanks to its rotational arrangement, the forum has windows to the outside.”

Read the article here.

Oliver Løwenstein writes in depth about Helen & Hards projects in this article for Fourthdoor. 

Excerpt from the article: “Helen & Hard push at the edges of the engineered timber envelope. Along with biology and ecology, their hybrid brew draws 21st century expressionism into a forested path towards a new sustainable architecture.”

Read the article here.

The TV series “Arkitektenes hjem” visits Architects in their homes and discusses what is important in a home for architects who design other people’s homes. Siv describes her home as “A place where I can find peace, but also a place where I can feel a part of something bigger – a community.” 

Watch the film here.

an efficient building with a strong identity that offers a public space fit for the 21st century

Published in Wallpaper.

Excerpt: “The architects worked closely with user groups and took into account the continuously changing role of the modern library for a design that would produce a quiet haven fit for reading but also a place for meeting and social activities.”

Read the article here.

The book deals with the idea of relational design as we attempt to grasp and practice it in our projects and work. As an architectural awareness as well as a working method it is inspired by the inherent ability of biological systems to sustain complex forms and life. 

Buy the book here.

Featured in an article on dezeen.

Excerpt from the article: “Chunky wooden ribs bend around the walls and ceiling of this library in Norway by Helen & Hard Architects and integrate lighting, bookshelves and seating. The 27 ribs frame the outline of a double-height hall, which spans the length of the Vennesla Library and Cultural Centre and includes a mezzanine.”

Read the article here.

Features in an article on Archdaily.

Excerpt from the article: “The basic concept of “Norway Powered by Nature”, designed by Helen & Hard, directly engages this challenge, placing emphasis and awareness on multiple aspects of sustainability.”

Read the article here.

An impression of The Financial park by Alastair Campbell

“It is not the first time a new city has blown me away. Nor the first time a building has blown me away. But it’s the first time I can recall both happening on the same day.”

Read the article here.

Inspiring architecture for our future

Discussing how we can plan our cities and homes to better face the challenges of Covid19 and how the Cohousing community at Vindmøllebakken as been working to overcome isolation during a time of social distancing and lock down.

Watch the talk here.

When comparing the building costs in Sauland Skule 

The initial hypothesis was that a timber building would be a more expensive solution, comparing to the more mainstream building in steel or concrete. Sauland Skule proves the opposite. 

[article in Norwegian]

Read the article here.

This short film shows the process behind the V&A installation by Helen & Hard.

“We hope the larger children, like us, will climb in the trees and find new ways of playing that we have not yet figured out” says architect Dag Strass about the installation at V&A

Watch the video here.

Research by Design and the Renovation of Practice

Edited By Michael U. Hensel. Routledge, London.

Integrating Research and Design in Practice.

Edited by Michael U. Hensel and Fredrik Nilsson. Routledge, London.

Alternatives to Urban Sprawl

Edited by Sakamoto Tomoko, Actar Publishers.

Featured Projects are B-Camp and Bjergsted Housing.