Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Nordic Architecture & Design Special – Norway
Transformation of shopping centre development including hotel, offices, training and health services. Image: SPOL Architects/Tegmark
From São Paulo to Oslo:
Architecture and urbanism across two continents With a view to create more public spaces and buildings that focus strongly on the future – by building cities and countries rather than constructions – the innovative architecture firm SPOL creates urban centres and hotels in Norway, as well as prototype schools in the Amazon rainforest. By Line Elise Svanevik
The two Scandinavian architects Adam Kurdahl and Jens Noach decided to work together despite being located on opposite sides of the world – Norwegian Noach in Oslo, and Danish Kurdahl in São Paulo. “We’ve both been travelling and working in different cities – Vienna, London, Brunei, Rotterdam,” explains Kurdahl. “São Paulo and Oslo are two fascinating cities, where we are living and working at the moment.”
Shaping young countries With a belief that Norway and Brazil are two young countries with many similarities, the architect duo finds both coun88 | Issue 105 | October 2017
tries intriguing as they are going through change. “The interesting thing for us as architects is that we try to imagine the future and how to shape it,” explains Kurdahl. “Brazil and Norway are in many ways similar countries, both young and taking advantage of their natural resources, and we anticipate building the future in both.” The firm strives to work across different architectural scales and types, as they believe in bespoke solutions and that going too niche can be quite excluding. “That’s what we’ve done in the past and want to focus on in the future – more and
more tasks require you to have knowledge of lots of different types of buildings and complex projects,” explains Noach. “We want to bring many different aspects together, making a greater positive out of different situations.”
A prototype school near the rainforest With 20 employees across the two cities, SPOL is currently revamping the shopping centre Trekanten in Asker, Norway, and also designed the Norwegian First Hotel in Jessheim, close to the Oslo Airport. At the other end of the scale, in a unique project, the architects have drawn a school prototype for the Amazon rainforest, in a place that has had almost no connection to the outside world. “There’s a small community living along the road 270 kilometres from the city of Manaus – it’s a very small community, but growing at an incredible speed,”