Oslo Trienale Live Build - Degrowth

The Plant Power! project looks at applications for nature based solutions to generating heat within an urban setting. As part of the Oslo Triennale. Being Tectonic with Public Works hosted a School for Civic Action masterclass to build a compost heater. This will act as a test bed to generate knowlegde which will then be implemented within the projects of the partners involved. The compostor will be in the garden of the museum creating a heated public space for visitors to embrace plant power! as a natural alternative to fossil based space heating.

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Plant Power - A Compost Bioreactor

Our team designed a cylinder shaped container to maximise the efficiency of the compost process. The concept was to encourage engagement with members of the public and tease out curiosity with steps leading you ontop of the compost pile to a public space and viewing platform. The design was adjusted during construction, this was a team decision influenced by time, resources and skillsets.

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An Enduring Architecture

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We all, I think, instinctively feel, and rationally assume, that buildings last for generations. However, we build them of concrete; liquid stone set around steel. Into these concrete cages, we set our most treasured stories. Stories about work, education, health, wealth and family. But stories are liquid, they move much more rapidly than these fixed frames can bear. We have forgotten, in how we build, that in previous eras the façade of a building; its public gestures; and spaces were the lasting elements. From palaces to factories, simple frames were adorned in rich material compositions, allowed to become recognisable and enduring characters by having the flexibility to change inside.

Now a drastic turnaround has taken place in the approach to our cities. The façades have become novel and sacrificial surfaces and the interiors tightly packed with fixed ideas. The result of this inversion is all around us. Demolition is a daily occurrence in the city, with the average lifespan of an urban building now 30 years.

This year, I have developed a position concerning urban buildings, their life, their death and their composition. I have considered the relationship between facade and structure, between use and appearance, between construction and services, materials, resource efficiency and environment, and have develop a critical perspective to how, where and when one should build.

Although Oslo was the inception of my studies, Glasgow became the test-bed of my research. This comparative tale will explore the dynamics of the two cities; building on the foundation of understanding developed through the research investigations in Oslo I developed a new framework for the city that responds directly to the present challenges of density, durability and flexibility.