Architecture, Society, History: the connection between architecture and the local from the eyes of Arch. Dagur Eggertsson

Architecture, Society, History: the connection between architecture and the local from the eyes of Arch. Dagur Eggertsson

Our world has been subjected to increasingly growing technological connectivity in recent decades, and this has facilitated the possibility of moving to different places around the world to carry out the development of various projects in different scenarios. While this situation is not new, it has become increasingly common, raising the possibility of participating in places and buildings intended for an occupant very different from our native society.

This physical and virtual hyperconnectivity has brought with it new design challenges during the conception, planning, and architectural development process. This took the designer into a deeper understanding of local society's behavior, geographical context, and local history to lead to the vernacular idea about local architecture, among other aspects, as part of the whole design process.

Arch. Dagur Eggertsson, co-founder of Rintala Eggertsson Architects, a firm based in Norway, presented his lecture to the Wood Architecture class in April 2024, showing the results of their workshops and projects over the last years, such as Into the Landscape (2009), the Gátt pit-stop (2013), the Dragonfly Tree Hotel (2013), or the Høse Bridge (2013). A group of projects at different locations with brilliant wooden construction solutions over time and applied to different geographical spaces. Since then, the idea of the vernacular has been notably perceived in his projects.

Following the lecture, the Wood Architecture alumni Rabie Al Ashi and Alvaro Ponce de León had the opportunity to interview Arch. Eggertsson (D) about his design process, considering the use of local materials and the study of the local occupants and landscape.

• Interviewers:

(R) Rabie Al Ashi

(A) Alvaro G. Ponce de León S.

 

R: What do you think of the design process and the design character and identity with regard to projects built remotely?

D: Yeah. When it comes to building remotely, I think our main attempt has been to accept the kind of lack of connectivity and try to use as many local resources as possible so that we don't need anything outside. Like in the picture I showed you: we can learn from our ancestors who didn't need the same things as we do now. And sometimes we can find beautiful and good materials locally, and by crafting them we can make use of them. So, that's kind of our fundamental idea for working in these places. On the other hand, sometimes it's hard to find local materials. Like in the project I mentioned in northeast Iceland, there’s a scarcity of materials in that place. So, we need to find ways to partly base things on local materials which are not so many. And on the other hand, materials that are being ordered and shipped to that place. So, yes: you have to find the right balance basically each time, for each project.

R: So, basically behaving like it’s vernacular architecture within the region.

D: Yes, I think it's kind of been our obsession to study the vernacular before we go to places to understand how people have been thinking over the centuries. Because it reveals so much of the attitude toward the landscape and resources and how people have been managing ingenious solutions with the lack of materials.

A: Revealing some of the society as well, I think. The society, the occupant itself. I think it’s very interesting when you explore vernacular materials a lot.

D: Yes, I think one turning point was when we were working on a project in Inner Mongolia. We were invited to that project, and this was just before the Olympics. There was a lot of hype around the new buildings for the Olympics. Of course, we were impressed by what they had accomplished. So, we went to the site for the bird's nest and we wanted to see it with our own eyes. We went to the top of a bridge where people were standing to kind of look over the fence and into the building site because things weren't finished at that point. Many people were looking in the same direction. It was kind of funny to experience it. So, automatically we started looking in the opposite direction. What are they not seeing? The interesting thing then was that on the other side of the road, there was an ethnological museum. An outdoor museum with buildings from all over China. So, we went there and had an amazing time understanding how people were approaching architecture from hundreds of years ago, maybe thousands of years ago in different parts of China, which is a country that has so many different natural conditions. We saw bamboo used in a very particular way. We saw more - what's it called? - rainforest wood in other projects and more stone buildings from other parts of China. So, it kind of opened my eyes, at least, to the importance of paying attention to what's going on and what has been going on because we’re standing on the shoulders of people who’ve been doing things before us.

A: It's very fascinating how many interesting things happened in the past and the landscape where we are in this moment, how many activities were carried out over the centuries. And you can learn from it because it's very varied in the customs and the culture you are immersed in.

D: Yeah, and it's interesting also that you don't need to copy it. It's showing methods that can be adopted anywhere at any time in a way.

A: It’s very fascinating. It's like you move to different places, to different contexts, so then architectural activity moves beyond to other related fields. To analyze and study the behavior of local people, their societal heritage, as happened for you in Inner Mongolia. This is also part of the design process, which leads us as architects to seek a closer understanding of the society we’re immersing in. Also, this gives us many clues for the future design proposal we will carry out in the specific place. And from this shared experience in Mongolia, my next question is about the future ahead. What are your planned activities (projects) for the middle-term or short-term future?

D: I mentioned in the coffee break the pavilion we’re creating in Chile. That is coming up quite soon. We’ve already started the consultation with the structural engineer. The interesting thing about it is that we’re working with wicker, which is so thin that you can't use it structurally.

Usually, you’re weaving baskets and things out of it, lamp screens and such. So, we spent a long time figuring out how to use it. We knew that we couldn't structurally put things together alone with wicker. It would be like a two-meter-high structure, and it would dissolve in a couple of years because of rain. So, we knew that we needed some kind of cover. We knew it was going to be more than two meters. It had to have a structure, a core or a skeleton. And from there, we started thinking about building a kind of furniture in the landscape. We always like to work contextually. So, we took a story from that local area about a convent that had been flooded. It was submerged because in Chile there are lots of water irrigation projects.

And they decided in the 70s to flood one area to create an irrigation project in the valley further down. It's kind of a disputed thing that they did. It was done under the dictatorship period. So, people are still sad about the whole thing taking place. It's sort of made in the memory of that. So, we’re making a courtyard pavilion, which we call convento. And it has water in the center. And around the center is a wicker woven elements that we stacked. So, after being there in October 2022, we saw the landscape. We decided this had to be four meters higher. So, it's going to be actually - I think - eight or nine meters high. No, nine meters high. And there will be a metal skeleton inside. Like they do when they’re weaving baskets with a lamp screen. They always have a metal skeleton. So, we’re using metal skeletons to make each element. And with the stability that comes with each of them, they can be stacked up to nine meters. So, we’re getting ready for that. The engineer is doing his calculations. And we’re going to meet the municipality to get the building permit in September, we are hoping.

A: Okay, I'm looking forward to seeing the result as soon as possible.

D: Yeah, we should stay in touch. You can send me an email. I will definitely look forward to the projects. So, that's the kind of semi-long-term perspective. We’re also working to strengthen our connections to Iceland. We’ve not been doing so many projects in Iceland over the years, and that's something we want to do, to get more projects done in Iceland. And I will probably be more involved in teaching over the next years because I like teaching, lecturing, and writing.

A: Excellent. Have you ever been a teacher in the past as well?

D: Yes.

A: How many years?

D: A bit on and off. This is my fourth year as a guest professor in Iceland. I had a guest professorship at Cornell University from 2017 to 2019. Before that, I was a professor in Arkansas and Virginia, at the University of Virginia. And then, way back, I was a part-time teacher in the early 2000s.

A: This is a very rich academic experience.

D: Yes, I’ve always liked it. For the last five years, I've been a regular critic at the Aalto School of

Architecture. In a studio course with some of my favorite teachers, with one former professor. It's a very enjoyable experience to go into critiques with interesting teachers and very interesting projects. Sometimes you’re kind of shaped by the kind of teaching you didn't get. Because when I was studying, I was always annoyed when people didn't listen to what I was saying. Or didn't read the ideas properly. So that's what I want to do, understand how people are thinking. And read into the actions of what people are doing.