Re:Source Pavilion

Part of master course series: Timber Studio

The pavilion as a building task

For many, the pavilion is a contested building task. As its function tends to be limited and its construction less durable, the pavilion may be criticised for its use of resources. However, it may also be a testbed for new architectural ideas and for solutions that are not (yet) possible in commercial contexts; it may explore potential future building techniques or resource applications; it may exhibit these to both the professional world and to the broader public; and it may create new professional networks. Furthermore, both the building material sourcing and scenarios for subsequent uses may be active and conscious part of the conceptualization and design of the pavilion.

Four focus stages of material sustainability: "Plan A/B/C/D"

Previous "Timber Studio" master courses at AHO* and an associated PhD** have been evolving along ideas about sustainable material use stemming from the study of literature and built precedents along with invited lectures. Even when employing renewable resources that in addition store carbon, such as timber, these environmental benefits are maximized when the materials are in use as long as possible and when their use is planned in a cascading circle that does not end in a landfill, but feeds into energy or soil production.

This cascading circle may be understood as a perpetual succession of four use stages, or focus areas, that each try to minimize material or energy losses along the way.

"Plan A": The first focus should always be on extending a building's life span. This is supported by the construction's durability, the layout's and surfaces' adaptability and the building's overall lovability.

"Plan B": If at some point, the building needs to be taken down, it should be possible to reuse it as a whole or its components with the least modification and the least loss of material possible (design for disassembly).

"Plan C": When building components do not allow any further reuse, their materials' recycling will give them another life. Even when flagged as "upcycling" however, this new life is sometimes a dead end, for example when the materials' treatment only allows for later disposal in a landfill.

"Plan D": Materials should always be treated in a way that does not impede their later composting for soil amendment or their combustion for energy production. However, some paints or impregnations turn wooden materials into hazardous waste, and composites are often impossible to separate into their organic and inorganic constituents.

Re:Source Pavilion

While the previous "Timber Studio" courses have mainly dealt with "Plan A", this course's task is designed to predominantly address "Plan B" and "Plan C". It will focus on wooden construction materials and pay special attention to their provenience (e.g. pre-used, cut-offs, waste, left-overs) and to their afterlife (not impeding composting or combustion). It will furthermore engage in design for disassembly and scenarios for subsequent uses.

During the fall semester, we will focus on the conceptualization of the pavilion and the design and rough dimensioning of its construction system and details. We will work with sketches on paper, physical models, digital models, 1:1 detail mock-ups and visualizations. We will also document the study of sources used in this course, such as lectures or the analysis of example projects. The teacher team will have expertise in architectural design and theory, timber construction, parametric design and timber engineering. A continuation of the course is possible in spring 2023, when it is planned to build and exhibit the pavilion along the World Conference on Timber Engineering 2023 in Oslo. The disassembly and relocation to the pavilion's subsequent location will also be part of that semester.

Teacher team

Ute Groba (AHO, course responsible)

Samuel Blumer (sblumer ZT GmbH, Graz, Austria)

Rune Veslegård (Snøhetta)

Moritz Groba (Oslotre)

* ‘Low-rise High-density Prefabricated Timber Housing’ (fall 2016); ‘Housing Individuals’ (fall 2020); ‘Timber Topping’ (fall 2021); ‘Timber Housing Cycles’ (spring 2022).

** Groba, Ute. 2021. ‘Timber Tales : A Qualitative Study of Timber Materiality in Housing Projects’. Oslo: The Oslo School of Architecture and Design.