Paper presented at the gta workshop Architecture’s Acclimatization,
ETH Zurich, Switzerland,
October 29, 2023.
ETH Zurich, Switzerland,
October 29, 2023.
In an editorial to the 1968 summer issue of the Norwegian architectural magazine Byggekunst, Christian Norberg-Schulz sketched a brief history of new Norwegian architecture, arguing that there are “few countries in the world, where the rhythms of life are so closely tied to the cycles of nature.” Indeed, while nature and climate played an important role in traditional Norwegian architecture, this relationship was based on the clear delineation between the interior and exterior, where a domestic enclosure was to protect one against the adversities of the harsh external climate. This intrinsically antagonistic relationship was not problematised until Norwegian architects faced an entirely different set of climatic conditions—those of Southeast Africa. In 1971, the Norwegian Agency for International Development expanded its operations in the region and sponsored the foundation of the National Housing and Building Research Unit (BRU) in Tanzania, modelled after the Norwegian Building Research Institute. The Unit’s researchers—Norwegian architects and sociologists who travelled to Tanzania—were to focus on improving existing and developing new rural housing types. Among primary considerations were questions of appropriate materials, local labour, and, not least—passive cooling and climate adaptations. In 1972, the unit produced a manual, “Climate and Design in Tanzania,” which offered recommendations on house orientation, insulation, materials and ventilation.
However, as I argue, unlike their international colleagues, Norwegian architects had little experience with climate considerations. Instead, many ideas were borrowed from the global knowledge exchange networks, particularly from the UK. With time, these climate considerations developed in Tanzania were re-translated back to Norway, informing the newly nascent ideas of environmentalism and passive housing. By looking at case studies of Norwegian architects dealing with climate considerations in Tanzania, this paper investigates the impact this work had on the evolving environmental discourse in Norway, particularly in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis.