Beyond Zero
Image
Beyond Zero:
Nordic Architecture on the Road Towards Renewed Practices
Exhibition
Thurs, Apr 16 — Thurs, Apr 23
Campbell 101A
Exhibition Opening with Tuomas Siitonen
Thurs, Apr 16, 12pm
Campbell 101A
Exhibition Description
Environmental degradation is a complex crisis where problems such as emissions, the depletion of virgin resources, and a socially just transition are all intertwined. To understand how architecture’s environmental impacts arise and where its potential for improving environmental conditions lies, we must focus on the processes through which the built environment is produced.
Image
The Nordic Carbon Neutral Bauhaus project rightfully places carbon emissions at its core. Various states, cities, and organizations have set goals for achieving net-zero carbon emissions during the coming decades. However, emissions are only one facet of the complex challenge of environmental degradation. Problems such as the depletion of virgin resources, biodiversity loss, eutrophication, chemical loads, and a socially just transition are all intertwined. In addition to causing 40% of all climate emissions, the built environment consumes up to half of all virgin resources and produces about a third of all waste. Aiming for low-carbon construction is therefore a step in the right direction, but if it is viewed as separate from – or as the sole solution to – addressing the wider environmental crisis, the conversation around emissions cannot achieve the systemic change the crisis truly demands. Architecture and other art forms have been recognized as significant media for achieving and making palatable the holistic disruption that is at hand.
Image
To understand how architecture’s environmental impacts arise and where its potential for improving environmental conditions lies, we must focus on the processes through which the built environment is produced. Architecture should not be understood merely as pieces of art conceived at the designer’s desk, culminating in the completion of buildings, but as ongoing processes that both build and maintain humanity’s largest physical objects.
This exhibition dives deeper into these architectural processes, approaching them from six different perspectives. To illustrate the viewpoints, the exhibition showcases 17 projects from the Nordic countries and Estonia, each offering its own ambitious perspective on the transition towards sustainable practices in the building industry.
Image
Selected Projects
The exhibition includes projects by Arhitekt Must, Arkkitehtitoimisto Sipinen & BST-Arkkitehdit, Anna María Bogadóttir, Collaboratorio, Djernes & Bell Architecture, EFFEKT Architects, Helen & Hard, Kaminsky Arkitektur & Hans Eek, Lendager, Mad arkitekter, Erik Mårtensson, Narva Katmann Architects, Pihl Katmann Architects, Salonen & Mona Schalin Architects, Studio Granda, Tengbom, Visit Faroe Islands
Image
Exhibition Team
Curators:
Iines Karkulahti, Anssi Lauttia, Charlotte Nyholm, Meri Wiikinkoski (Noon Architects & Vapaa Collective)
Exhibition architects:
Johannes Nieminen, Tuomas Siitonen (Kombo Office)
Commissioned by:
The Nordic Council of Ministers, The Ministry of the Environment (Finland), The Ministry of Education and Culture, Boverket and Form/Design Center.
Tuomas Siitonen is an architect and designer whose practice bridges building, teaching and research. He holds an M.Sc. in Architecture from the Helsinki University of Technology and an M.A. in Graphic Design from the Helsinki University of Art and Design. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Architecture at the UVA School of Architecture and a Virginia Architecture Fellow.
Tuomas founded Tuomas Siitonen Office in Helsinki in 2010. His practice is working for mostly private clients with a focus on spatial clarity and sustainable solutions. Since 2019, he has also been a partner in Kombo, an exhibition design firm, collaborating with multidisciplinary team for museums and other public clients — and exhibition designer of Beyond Zero.
