Studio Ark

Studio ARK is based in Oslo, Norway. The studio’s interests lie in looking at material construction, and its translation to vernacular, cultural, and institutional formats and buildings.

The studio works with residential, institutional and installation projects.

_institutional
Regent’s Monastery

A proposal for a monastery in a London park. Placed above a canal with a public footpath, the building focuses on the balancing of inclusive and private spaces.

_case study
Totems.01

Studying serialization and repetition as a form-making process, the case study is part of a wider project looking at mimicking vernacular and idiosyncratic form.

_institutional
Museum Fragments

A proposal for an extension to the British Museum. The project creates an uncanny space that mirrors the existing exhibits. Reflecting on new methods of reproduction and fabrication, the project questions the play between space and its subject.

_competition
_insitutional
The Gatehouse
_shortlisted

A shortlisted competition proposal for an extension to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. With the aim of preserving and revitalizing several existing buildings, the project argued for the role heritage construction in urban reneval.

_case study
_residential
Beam House

A one-bedroom flat that disguises itself as an impenetrable stone, it is revealed to be both open and spacious once beyond the gate.

_case study
_residential
Block House

Process models for a concept for a cabin. Mechanical spaces and bedrooms are disguised as the ‘boulders’ that prop up the main living spaces.

_memorial
Utoya Memorial

The proposal for a memorial commemorating the terror attack on the 22. July 2011 at Utoya in Norway. A small home has its walls removed to expose a fractured domestic scene.

_case study
_residential
‘Funkis’ House

A three bedroom house that mimics certain ‘funkis’ stylistic elements, while creating a continuous, internalized living space.

_fabrication
Stacked Bones

Exploring the transition from traditional craft to parametric design. A single modular element is designed and fabricated using slip-casting to create a complex structure.

_competition
_institutional
Log Drive Museum
Fløtningsmuseum

Competition entry for a museum in Norway. Responding to the theme of the timber-industry in the area, the design focuses on repeating wooden structural elements that host a vibrant public space.

_case study Karagazawa Fantasy

A narrative project, based on an imaginary scenario set in Karagazawa, Tokyo. A speculative building technique goes rogue and creates a mega-block.

_competition
_institutional
_residential
Housing Redevelopment

project still out for jury

_case study
Shivering Shrine

Celebrating movement in structural elements, the space for a small shrine is turned into a spectacle through a play with mechanics and light.

_competition
_institutional
Museum Fortress

A museum inserted into a historic fortress preserves and accentuates the existing built-fabric of the place.

_residential
Brick House

The interior design of a house combines the heaviness needed to anchor a space, while creating an open, light facade to interact with the exterior.

_process
_insitutional
Carved

Looking at the concept for a larger music school, a series of process models and sketches informed the early design sequence.

_case study
_institutional
Acropolis Lookin’

Beginning with an excerpt of an essay describing the relationship between paths and image making, the project re-creates parts of the Acropolis as a warehouse.

_residential
Napa Valley Studies

A series of early, preliminary concept studies for a residential house in Napa Valley, US. Included in the proposal were three different approaches to balancing openness and privacy

Studio Ark, Konrad Holtsmark