Semester/ år: Vår 2009
Veileder: Christian Hermasen
Biveiledere: Bjarne Ringstad, Julian Lynghjem
The main goal of the Institute is to bring the conflicting parts to a negotiation table. Most of the time conflicts emerge on the basis of minor violations of prior statements of both sides. The ground for involving the sides in a dialog will be made on solid research of the situation – historical, political, cultural and ethical. The core of the institute is the component members, permanent and temporary; in its turn the institution becomes the tool of Norway as a third party in a negotiation process.
The aim of the project is to address the issue of negotiations between countries or parties in a conflict. The project is not set to solve all the problems in the given context but rather to dissipate the subject into major themes like first meeting, dialogs, micro infrastructure, and the role of the public in a negotiation process, services, and bringing about an architectural discussion on the issues.
The main part of the building is placed under the ground in order to keep the process as secret as possible but in the same time it signals about activities inside through the roof which becomes a multifunctional fabric like surface. The roof defines gathering spots on the surface as well as marking important areas underneath. The secrecy requirements of the program are an interesting subject from an architectural point of view. The meeting facilities are ‘camouflaged’ under the landscape above which becomes the mediator between the outside and inside. Another issue with the architectural program is the formal approach. Because it involves people from all over the world, people of different nationalities and different believes – sometimes the reason for tense relationship between them – the building should have an abstract formal language that relate as much as possible to all the cultural varieties involved.