An architecture exhibition at Norway’s Kode museums that opens on May 6 will explore problems about communal living in a variety of practical and experimental ways, including asking visitors to sleep over.
A co-housing installation by Norwegian architects Helen & Hard, which was previously presented at the Nordic Pavilion at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale, will take up Kode’s main exhibition space. With a spacious kitchen, common workspaces, a play area, and individual bedrooms, the timber construction offers varied degrees of seclusion and communality.
Vindmllebakken, a 40-unit all-wooden housing complex designed by the firm in Stavanger in 2018, is similar. Vindmllebakken was built as a test bed for the Gaining by Sharing housing plan, which pairs private apartments with central public facilities where residents may cook, do laundry, and socialize, building a sense of community among people of various ages and backgrounds. With shared services and fewer private houses, the idea aims to counteract rising rates of loneliness and create a more sustainable way of living. Its proponents argue that we can address concerns like climate change while also improving our lives and becoming happier.
Meanwhile, the museum’s atrium will be transformed into a space for debates about the future of architecture in Norway, as well as community events and celebrations. A brief takeover by a queer club night will mark the 50th anniversary of Norway’s legalisation of male sexual behaviour this year. The show aims to demonstrate how ideas posed in a museum can forever influence the world outside by temporarily transforming Kode’s spaces.