40 682 Timber Studio: Local Harvest – Design and Prototyping (Spring 2027)

Course series

Timber Studio

Overarching semester theme

Material Resources

Studio Course

Local Harvest – Design and Prototyping

Buildings often ask all their materials to conform to the same idea of permanence. Can we instead design with different material lifespans?

The studio explores the architectural potential of this theme through permanent and ephemeral parts and joints in a pavilion or an installation for Øya Festivalen in Oslo. Some components may remain in use over many years, while others may be exchanged, adapted, borrowed or reconfigured from one festival to the next.

Wood and other biogenic materials provide a starting point for investigating how resources with different growth rates, availability and previous lives can be matched to architectural functions. The studio considers both where materials are grown and what is already available locally, including reclaimed timber, existing components, festival infrastructure and materials circulating between events.

The question is whether aligning lifespan, function and resource can lead to a more effective use of biogenic and reclaimed materials, and which architectural and tectonic possibilities this might create.

This also means designing the relationships between parts. Joints become places where different lifespans meet: some connections may be intended to endure, while others enable repeated disassembly, exchange and reuse.

The studio will consider the project as part of a living landscape rather than an isolated object. Its design must respond to the particular conditions of the festival site: trees, ground, movement, shade, weather, people and the temporary occupation of the park. Installations might, for example, contribute to protecting trees and soil from the pressures of the festival rather than merely occupying the landscape. The site is therefore both a place of use and a resource to be cared for.

One proposal will be selected by a jury for potential realisation at Øya Festivalen 2027. The students’ work follows a design-to-production approach, developing the project from conceptual design towards construction drawings and a construction manual for Øya.

Keywords

Material resources, material lifespans, biogenic materials, reuse, design for disassembly, joints, adaptability, material circulation, temporary architecture, living landscape

At the conclusion of the course the student should be able to:

• Analyse the relationship between material resources, architectural functions and different material lifespans.
• Evaluate biogenic and reclaimed materials in relation to their properties, availability, reuse potential and intended lifespan.
• Develop architectural concepts that integrate permanence, ephemerality, adaptability and reuse.
• Design joints and assemblies that respond to different requirements for permanence, disassembly and repeated use.
• Investigate material and tectonic ideas through drawings, models and 1:1 mock-ups.
• Integrate architectural proposals with site-specific conditions, including landscape, trees, soil, movement and temporary occupation.
• Communicate and reflect on design decisions through architectural drawings, models, oral presentations and written reflection.

The studio combines conceptual design with material and tectonic investigation, moving between scales from initial ideas to construction drawings and 1:1 mock-ups. Students work in groups. Comparative GWP assessments of selected materials will form part of the investigations, and a timber engineer will contribute throughout the design process. The final assignment will include an individual written reflection.

Lectures and selected readings introduce relevant concepts, precedents and methods. Workshops provide opportunities to test materials, joints and assemblies through drawing, modelling and making. A building workshop at Hjerleid is also considered, focusing on traditional joining techniques (yet to be confirmed). Regular discussions, supervision and reviews support students in connecting practical experiments to broader architectural and resource-related questions.

Students will participate in selecting which concepts and proposals to develop further, while a jury will determine which project is selected for potential realisation.

Physical attendance at lectures, reviews, supervision sessions, discussions, and other educational activities is expected and necessary in order to achieve the learning outcomes

Assessment method: Project

Grouping: Individual and group work in combination

Grading scale: Pass/fail

In order to be assessed in this course, the student must have completed the following activities and assignments:

The assessment is based on a group project and an individual reflection report.

The group submission consists of architectural drawings, models and 1:1 mock-ups, visualisations, a project description and selected process material. Each student must also submit an individual reflection report.