Youth house in Gamlebyen

Master course assignment - nominated for AHO award in “excellence in the use of brick or concrete materials”
Assignment: Do a conceptual study of an architectural feature and use this as a guiding principle for a project of your choosing
Teachers: Beate Hølmebakk, Nils Ole Brandtzæg  

Arches and vaults are principles of construction, almost as old as architecture. The introduction of steel construction made them less relevant. Yet, several modern architects have applied the principles of the arch or vault to numerous projects. For this course we were given the opportunity to study some of these projects up close, through a study trip to America, with a special emphasis on the buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright. In such projects as the “Johnson Wax Administration Building”, the “children’s playroom” or the “Marin County Civic Center”, Wright uses vaults and arches to achieve great sculptural qualities in his buildings, while aligning them closely with the functions and requirements of their programs. 

This project was in its first phase a study of vaults and arches in and of themselves, and the rooms they can generate if layered in new ways. In the next phase some of the principles deduced from the study were applied to create a youth house in central Oslo (in the same vein as famous local youth houses as Hausmania, Borgen and Blitz). 

Every room of the house has a vaulting ceiling and a line of sight through the building.

The spatial logic of the house was developed through months of careful studies of potential sequences in a plaster model consisting of different sized arches and vaults.

The third floor of the building consists of three apartments for the people who run the establishment, built around a series of courtyards and light shafts. 

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