In a time when the world is facing major social and environmental challenges, Oslo Architecture Triennale 2022 spotlights the neighborhood as a place and horizon for rethinking our cities. With the working title Mission Neighborhood – (Re)forming communities, the Triennale will explore how we form the places we share.
What do we mean by “neighborhood”? Neighborhoods represent the sum of everyday places we share with one another: The streets, squares, bus stops, kindergartens and schools, the places where we shop and meet – when possibilities allow. The neighborhood is where communal activities take place. But it is also the context where the structures of society at large are expressed. The neighborhood scale reveals our ability as a collective to handle challenges and create meaningful frameworks for everyday life.
During the next 18 months, the Triennale will be an open laboratory for our joint investigation of ways to form the neighborhoods of the future: What are the features of good neighborhoods? How can infrastructure such as roads be transformed into neighborhood spaces? How can institutions, schools, and offices be designed so they accommodate more diverse uses and users? And we will take a closer look at ways to reform the systemic premises of neighborhood development: What is the value of good neighborhoods – for the individual, for the public health and for sustainable societal development? How can politicians and the public administration create better conditions for fostering neighborhood quality? How can capital benefit the public good in urban development?
The open laboratory is a local, national and international platform where professionals and citizens meet to create more thriving, fair and inspiring neighborhoods. We will bring forward the skill and ambition, existing both within and outside of professional circles, to contribute to a more empathic take on city development. It will showcase practices, people and projects that contribute to neighborhood thinking – from the local transformation of a single street to large-scale visionary city planning. We will shed light on neighborhood’s past, present and future to show the wide array of possible diverse, vibrant communities.
The theme builds upon a surging global interest in developing the local environment, such as the Parisian 15-minute City and Barcelona’s Superblocks. The Covid 19-pandemic has clarified the importance of neighbourhood, as well as significant inequalities when it comes to access to neighbourhood qualities. The Triennale aims to add insight, ideas and proposals for action that can help build more quality neighborhoods for the many.
Mission Neighbourhood is an invitation to heighten the collective imagination regarding the spaces of everyday life. As with any mission, there is a goal: To visibly boost critical and constructive inquiry into the possibilities of neighborhood within and across different disciplines. We seek responses and responsibilities: What must be done? Who can do it? What is our responsibility? And last, not least: What can we accomplish together?
About the Oslo Architecture Triennale 2022
The Theme launch marks the start of a year and a half of exploration through partnership, open calls, debates, research and much more.
Research and development of neighborhoods in Oslo will be at the center of the Triennale activities, while simultaneously, we will seek out international projects, perspectives, and best practices.
The Triennale is underway with a network gathering bigger Nordic cities to share knowledge on neighbourhood culture and development.
A series of open calls will be announced during the fall of 2021, asking for both international examples and visions for specific development areas in Oslo.
The Triennale opening 21-25 September 2022 kick starts the autumn’s program of activities and experiments in neighborhoods in Oslo.
The outcome of the Triennale will be compiled in a publication that sums up ideas and actions for neighborhood thinking and development.
Oslo Architecture Triennale 2022 is directed and curated by Christian Pagh and developed by the OAT secretariat in collaboration with the Triennale members and a range of partner organizations.
