Read about us on Archdaily and the New Generations platform
Kaleidoscope | Bergen, Norway and Helsinki, Finland
An evolving open lab
Kaleidoscope and our TUN736 is today featured in the leading architectural media Archdaily. We are part of their selection Young Emerging Practices - an important recognition for us! Check out their covering of the topic and follow the New Generations platform for more young practices world wide!
Here you can find our profile page and an interview with us on New Generations. New Generations is a European platform analyzing the most innovative emerging practices at the European level, providing a new space for the exchange of knowledge and confrontation, theory, and production.
Presentation on refugee archicture at CMI
Image courtesy: CMI
Bjørnar Haveland is the newest member of the Kaleidoscope team. He recently graduated with a Masters degree from Bergen School of Architecture, and has a Bachelor degree from University of Michigan, US. As Raul Wallenberg '15 fellow at the University of Michigan Bjørnar spent a year in the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut learning about connections between architecture and identity in protracted camps (2015-16) and used this experience in his diploma project titled " The Island of (in)stability, or a hotel for visiting foreigners in the middle of town, where an architectural proposal is used as a narrative tool to explain and tie together the complex political, social and spatial realities of the Shatila refugee camp.
This month, October 2019, Bjørnar was invited by the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) in Bergen to hold a seminar and open an exhibition based on his MA-thesis. The exhibition engages in a form of architectural anthropology; where the built environment is mapped and used together with traditional forms of research as a starting point to link the lived experience of displacement to the architecture of the camp.
The Shatila refugee holds more than 20,000 people on an area smaller than four football fields, making it one of the most densely populated places in the world. Despite being over-researched by scholars and over represented in the media, little attention has been given to Shatila’s built environment; how it is shaped, what it expresses and the logic behind it.
The seminar created exciting cross disciplinary discussions, focusing on placemaking and the ability of architecture to function as a critique as well as to provide holistic methods for research. We at Kaleidoscope find it really interesting when architecture can intersect with other disciplines and are excited to see how well Bjørnar's project was received. In case you missed it, the exhibition will be put on display again at CMI from Monday November 4th and we recommend you go and see it!
Torget-Bryggen
Today, the winners of the planning and design competition Torget-Bryggen were announced. The award was handed out by Jostein Bjørbekk on behalf of the jury.
We are very proud to present that Arkitektgruppen CUBUS and KALEIDOSCOPE Nordic in collaboration with Per Finne Industridesign, Multiconsult, Kontrapunkt, ÅF Lighting, Jørgen Blitzner and Studio Gohde stood behind the competition entry «Hverdagsvågen».
«Hverdagsvågen» was not voted as the winner of the competition. The team is still very proud of the work we have done during the competition period and the solutions we have proposed. We congratulate the team behind «Mot Vågen» with the prize and look forward to following the further process.
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I dag ble vinnerne av plan- og idékonkurransen Torget-Bryggen kåret i Sentralbadet. Prisen ble utdelt av Jostein Bjørbekk på vegne av juryen.
Vi er svært stolte av å kunne presentere at Arkitektgruppen CUBUS og KALEIDOSCOPE Nordic i samarbeid med Per Finne Industridesign, Multiconsult, Kontrapunkt, ÅF Lighting, Jørgen Blitzner og Studio Gohde står bak løsningsforslaget Hverdagsvågen.
Hverdagsvågen ble ikke kåret som vinner av noen av de tre premiene i konkurransen. Teamet er like fullt svært stolte av arbeidet vi har utført i konkurranseperioden og de løsningene vi har foreslått. Vi gratulerer teamet bak «Mot Vågen» med premien og ser frem til å følge den videre prosessen.
Nordic Works in Kauppalehti
The Finnish newspaper Kauppalehti ("Financial times" of Finland) writes about Uusi Kaupunki / Nordic Works and our methods for urban development!
Mentorship in Design
On the occasion of the International women’s day, Miia-Liina is today attending an interesting panel discussion on Mentorship in Design at the newly opened central library Oodi in Helsinki. The event is organised by VOW Architects and Architecta in tandem with events by RebelArchitette and Women in Architecture NYC in Italy and the USA, and moderated by Marco Steinberg. The event is open and free for public - welcome!
Kaleidoscope is the new secretariat of Europan Norway
Kaleidoscope partners Miia-Liina Tommila, Tone Megrunn Berge and Silje Klepsvik. Photo: Studio 1 fotografene
We are proud to announce that Kaleidoscope has been selected as the new secretariat of Europan Norway. Our work has started at the beginning of August, and we just got back from Madrid, where all the the national secretaries gathered this weekend.
Europan is one of the largest architectural and urban planning competitions worldwide and has been running for 30 years. It is especially targeted for young professionals, and the aim of the competition is to explore and implement innovative solutions for the development of towns and cities. The competition also aims to give young architects possibilities for commissions. The secretariat has the responsibility to organise the competition in Norway, and we are looking forward to the launch of Europan 15 in March 2019.
In many ways, however, Europan is more than just an architectural competition. Europan takes the pulse of European architecture. It maps the undercurrents and upcoming trends of the young generation. It is also a unique platform for sharing knowledge internationally and debating the status quo of architecture in Europe, with innovative projects that challenge existing conventions. Every year, hundreds of city planners, developers, commissioners, architects and other professionals meet in forums organised by Europan to network, compare experiences and discuss the topics pressing the cities and site-owners. This form of exchange is increasingly relevant in the European context.
"Being part of the organization of Europan is an opportunity to contribute to change mechanisms that challenge the present and equip us in the face of the future. We feel privileged to have been chosen to continue this work," says Tone Berge, who leads the secretariat together with partners Silje Klepsvik and Miia-Liina Tommila from Kaleidoscope. Like many young architectural offices in Europe, Kaleidoscope was established as a result of a winning project in Europan competition. “We firmly believe that the field of architecture needs open competitions to be further developed, and we look forward to contributing to the development of Europan at a strategic level.”
The Europan Norway secretariat is now located in Bergen. The secretariat’s partners are The Bergen School of Architecture, The Oslo School of Architecture and Design, The Norwegian University of Science, The Norwegian University of Life Sciences, The Norwegian Center for Design and Architecture, and The National Association of Architecture and it is supported by The Norwegian Ministry of Culture. Follow our work on Facebook, Instagram and on our website and all of you under 40: Stay tuned for competition launch in March 2019!
Kaleidoscope at UNBUILT HOUSE Exhibition at Oslo Open House 2018
We are proud to be a part of the UNBUILT HOUSE Exhibition curated and designed by Holt O’Brien AS & Svingen Arkitektkontor AS as part of Oslo Open House this year. The exhibition will show the work of young architecture offices, consisting of a collection of models of projects that because of some external factors will never be built. The exhibitions aims to show all the buildings that will never be a part of Open House but are still vitally important as part of the development of architectural practise. Kaleidoscope contributes with the Dolvikbakken housing project from 2017.
Nordic Works* at Bergen Design Festival
We are looking forward to this years Bergen Design Festival for a particular reason: on 15th September we launch Nordic Works* in Norway by inviting everyone to an evening with lightning talks on the theme of "Water City of Bergen". In the event we launch a crowdsourcing survey dealing with how water can be a social, attractive and fun element in the city. Join us to share your ideas in an inspiring evening, where we dive into the possibilities of Bergen as a water city. See you at Statsraaden Bar & Reception! See the event also on the festival website.
Interview in connection with the research project iResponse
We are honoured to have been interviewed in connection with the research project “iResponse” on crowdsourcing and citizen participation in urban planning. iResponse is a research project funded by the Research Council of Norway exploring social responsible crowdsourcing tools for environmental research and decision-making, in the areas of urban air quality and wood burning, urban stormwater management and blue-green infrastructure, and urban planning. Read the interview here.