Natural stone has a long history and considerable structural capacity. In building practice today it has largely been reduced to surface, decoration and historical reference. The seminar asks how stone can again be understood as a resource, a structure and part of a longer-lasting building tradition.

The starting point is a simple objection to a common assumption: that innovation lies mainly in new, composite or industrially processed materials. The seminar turns attention to the structural properties of stone, its local roots and its long life cycle, and takes up extraction, transport, standardisation, structural use and reuse.

A central reference is the Finchley Road project in London, designed by Groupwork Architects.

The programme

Part 1, 4.00 pm to 5.00 pm: welcome and introduction, presentations by Groupwork Architects, Webb Yates Engineers and Pierre Bidaud of The Stonemasonry Company, followed by discussion and questions from the floor.

Part 2, 5.15 pm to 6.15 pm: short provocations by Martin Hopland and Magnus Widerøe (Varig Larvikitt), Eladio Ramm, David Eladio Hugo Cabo and Nicolai Ramm Østgaard (Månelandskap), and Øystein Rø of Transborder Studio (Two projects). The seminar ends with a panel conversation.

Practical information

Sofienberg Church, Rathkes gate 18, 0558 Oslo. Tickets are 100 kroner.

Buy your ticket at oslo-arkitekturtriennale.hoopla.no.

The Triennale runs until 1 October. The exhibition is open 9 am to 7 pm on weekdays and 10 am to 5 pm at weekends.

See the full programme at oslotriennale.no/program.