Coming into Community

This autumn, the National Museum – Architecture will be transformed into a queer and playful place. What kind of significance does community have in queer circles? How have ideas about community influenced architecture and urban development? What makes us feel safe in a space? Can architecture help create relationships with others? The Oslo Architecture Triennale is the largest architecture festival in the Nordic region, first held in 2000. In 2022, the festival will focus on the neighbourhood as a community.

The National Museum is one of the Oslo Architecture Triennale's main partners. The museum's contribution will focus on community and exclusion. One part of the exhibition will show examples from the past 70 years of how ideas about community have shaped architecture and urban development. Who has been included and who has been excluded? How is urban development perceived by queer people, feminists and other marginalised groups?

Post-war housing construction was mainly about housing and protecting the nuclear family. It was not until the 1960s and 1970s that more thought was given to inclusion and diversity. Selegrend Hesthaugen outside Bergen is an example of a project where the nuclear family was no longer the main focus. One-third of the homes were to be reserved for "housing-disadvantaged" groups.

In the 1970s and 1980s, cities were criticised for being designed largely for cars and for men. Through videos, drawings and archival material, the exhibition will show examples of the feminist perspective  from architect and champion of lesbian rights Phyllis Birkby, among others. In the 1970s, Birkby travelled around the United States and held Women's Environmental Fantasy Workshops to help women explore what architecture might look like if more  consideration were given to women's needs. Birkby also visited Norway.