Nicholas Ryan Coates

• Coates, Nicholas Ryan (2025). Element. I Fleckner, Uwe & Lending, Mari (Red.), Provenance in Architecture. A Dictionary. Hatje Cantz Verlag. ISSN 9783775761147. s. 90–91. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Coates, Nicholas Ryan (2025). Operation Siporex. Future Anterior. ISSN 1549-9715. Summer/Winter 2025(1–2), s. 180–192. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Operation Siporex presents the opportunism arising out of industrial architectural components by following the movement of a single material across continents. Siporex, a brand of autoclaved aerated concrete, was a building block developed in Scandinavia that transformed the building industries in postwar Europe before spreading globally. With its revolutionarily lightweight material properties, Siporex was a material that was designed to move from its inception. First comprised as a set of building elements, the company rapidly developed an all-­encompassing ecosystem that was hailed as the system that could meet every need and complete constructions in record time. Simultaneously, away from the building site, Siporex made its way into local vocabularies that in turn began defining new contexts. Following the material from a small town in Norway to the former capital of Cote d’Ivoire, this contribution outlines a larger story of negotiations, strategic uses of governmental development aid, and corporate profitability. Siporex, a hidden building block that transformed the city of Abidjan, remains not only a simple building element but as a promise left behind.

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• Langdalen, Erik Fenstad & Coates, Nicholas Ryan (2025). The Provanance of a Kunsthalle. doi: https:/provenanceprojected.no/events/the-provanance-of-a-kunsthalle. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This exhibition explores the material provenance of Kunstnernes hus through investigations of building materials, technical infrastructure, lighting, maintenance systems, exhibition armature and more. Through archival studies and on-site surveys, 15 students from The Oslo School of Architecture and Design have excavated the production history, sourcing, economy, usage, ownership history, and alteration records of the building’s facades, spaces, structure, components, materials, and artworks. By constructing an alternative history, this exhibition challenges the way we understand and assess the building and might change the way we transform it for the future.

• Coates, Nicholas Ryan (2024). Professor Sverre Fehn. doi: https:/provenanceprojected.no/events/professor-sverre-fehn-exhibition-opening. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Sverre Fehn (1924–2009) var utdannet arkitekt fra Statens Arkitektkskole i Oslo fra 1946–1949 og begynte å undervise ved skolen på 1960-tallet. I 1971 ble Fehn utnevnt til professor ved Arkitekthøgskolen i Oslo og var rektor fra 1986–1989. I forbindelse med hundreårsjubileet for hans fødsel og årets Fehn-symposium på Domkirkeodden, Fehn Among Others, utforsker utstillingen Professor Sverre Fehn hans virke ved AHO. Fehn var en legendarisk lærer og foreleser, nasjonalt og internasjonalt, og en betydelig del av hans produktive karriere fant sted i skolens tegnesaler, auditorium, styrerom og korridorer, blant studenter og kolleger. Da han i et intervju i 1995, etter 24 år som professor ved AHO, ble spurt om hva som var det viktigste å bevare ved skolens aktiviteter, svarte han: «Internasjonal kontakt.» Utstillingen presenterer dokumenter, skisser, korrespondanse og gjenstander som utdyper vår forståelse av hans produksjon, den supplerer veletablerte fremstillinger av Fehns liv og verk, og betoner den nasjonale, internasjonale og institusjonelle dimensjonen ved hans virke som lærer og foreleser. Professor Sverre Fehn bygger på funn fra seminaret Authoring Architecture: Fehn 100 våren 2024, og er kuratert av Nicholas Coates.

• Langdalen, Erik Fenstad & Coates, Nicholas Ryan (2024). The Provenance of an Art Center. doi: https:/provenanceprojected.no/events/the-provenance-of-an-art-center. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This exhibition explores the full material provenance of the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK), including building materials, technical infrastructure, furniture, display systems, lighting fixtures, maintenance systems and more. By thorough investigation of the archives, and through on-site survey of the building, nine students and two teachers from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO) have excavated the ownership history, production history, economy, sourcing, usage and alteration records of its components and materials. By constructing an alternative history of the building, this exhibition challenges the way we understand and assess buildings - and might change the way we transform them for the future.

• Coates, Nicholas Ryan (2024). Professor Sverre Fehn. Arkitektur. ISSN 2704-0925. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Langdalen, Erik Fenstad; Coates, Nicholas Ryan & Pløhn, Kim (2024). Petroarkitektur. Arr - Idéhistorisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7005. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv

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