Our approach, thinking, and beliefs
“We understand architecture as contextual in all ways, as cultural in all its diversities, and as an artefact with its limitations at the same time, with the purpose of serving an extended functionality.”
Our firm belief is that architecture is the historic embodiment and manifestation of our society, traditionally seen as an accumulation of all buildings and projects – contemporary architecture at its best, responds to the ongoing societal processes seeing architecture as an accumulation of knowledge, trying to improve the situation
– with the future in mind.
Here’s what that means to us:
Through our dealings with buildings, landscapes, urbanity and the rural, we have experienced that a valid architecture lends itself easier to the outside, how it relates and responds to its external conditions being sociocultural, ecopolitical as well as ecological. And furthermore, what the outside brings into the project from external concepts, knowledge, and ideas. This implies that we believe it is not sufficient just solving the specifics and particulars to a project. Every project is subject to something greater than itself and has the obligation to discuss and implement a wider and more general understanding of the task.
Since architecture might be the last generalist profession in a highly specialized world; We emphasize the necessity to be multiple with our techniques, knowledge, methodology and experiences, as an opposition to the preconceived, repetitive, singular way of thinking. This multiple design motivation that favors performance over appearance, connectivity over dissociation, external over the internal, methodology over reference, opens for a richness of solutions where negotiations between relationships of the performative and representational brings out customized, informed, and encouraging designs.
Ecological – by architectural means
As architects we believe we have the obligation to solve our future by architectural means, therefore “ecological” to us is more a task of organization and distribution. Questioning the traditional architectural entities and how they relate, rather than applying technical features and thereby distinguish ourselves from the field of technical engineering.
This implies that how you draw a buildings layout, the way it meets the ground and how it encounters sites conditions impacts the projects footprint in the future.
Context – and beyond
Our approach relies on the ability to understand the physical environment of the situation in combination with the cultural context of the project. From the individual to the collectives from the already built to virgin grounds. Every situation with its context is filled with a magnitude of specific conditions, often not directly favorable to the requirements of the project.
In these environments we adapt our projects – reassuring that the project is s subject to something greater than itself.
We are (the last) generalists
Since architecture might be the last generalist profession in a highly specialized word; We believe in the necessity to be multiple with our knowledge, techniques, methodologies and experiences – in opposition to the chase towards the preconceived singular way of thinking and designing.
We are always searching for new projects, partners, and collaborators. Do you have a potential project collaboration? Don’t be a stranger! We love to hear about your ambitions.
+ 47 900 11 019
hello@gmsa.no
Grahl-Madsen & Sponberg Architecture
Designed and developed by GMSA 2023