SKAJAA

I started the studio in the spring of 2017 after being one of the partners of Eriksen Skajaa Architects since 2010. In the office we engage in small buildings, some of which are being realized at the moment, as well as larger urban planning commissions – such as the Nesa development which is a continuation of a Europan competition we won as Eriksen Skajaa in 2017.

We engage, as many others at the moment, in the social side of architecture. Asking questions about the possibility of a more inclusive city using tools such as collective development and shared spaces. We are engaged at the moment in an interesting discussion about reuse of chirches as social spaces in the city.

I am also the prorector at the school of architecture in Bergen (BAS),
where I finished my diploma in 2004, and also occasionally teach.
I am also the current leader of the Oslo Association of Architects.

How did you find your way into the field of Architecture?

I went to an art and craft high school in Bergen where I was so lucky to have a ceramics teacher who encouraged me. I might have had a kind of silent dream before that but I definitely remember the moment when she told me I should try architecture – and that it felt like something true. 

What comes to your mind, when you think about your diploma project?

My diploma project at BAS was aboput the possibility of protest in urban space -  more specifically the possibility of Europeans coming to Brussels to be heard and get a position in relation to the European union. This question of architecture and urbanisms ability to give space for differences and other opinions has certainly been something that I continue to work on. My professor, and later employer was Nicholas Boyarsky from Boyarsky Murphy Architects in London. 

What are your experiences founding SKAJAA Arkitektkontor and working as a self-employed architect? 

I have really never worked for any big offices so for me the situation feels quite normal. But its certainly a struggle – as I imagine it is for everybody to get work and finding ways to make the jobs we have become interesting and meaningful. We are happy to have some good clients that we are working with at the moment and find the struggle rewarding. 

How would you characterize Oslo as location for architects who want to start their own practice?

How is the context of this place influencing your work?
For me Oslo seems like a good place to run an architecture business – having really no experience from other places. There is a good group of other small or young offices that we collaborate with and match our work to. I think there is a group of offices at the moment who are raising the bar a bit and we definitely benefit from their work. 

What does your desk/working space look like? 

Our working space is in the attic in a building we share with the architecture library owned by the National Association of Architects. We have a big table in the middle for working and smaller rooms for meeting and concentrated work. 

Please, introduce yourself and your Studio…

We are a small architecture studio of four people based in Oslo and working all over Norway. We are four persons in the office, with experience ranging from still being a student to over ten years of architectural experience.

I started the studio in the spring of 2017 after being one of the partners of Eriksen Skajaa Architects since 2010. In the office we engage in small buildings, some of which are being realized at the moment, as well as larger urban planning commissions – such as the Nesa development which is a continuation of a Europan competition we won as Eriksen Skajaa in 2017.

We engage, as many others at the moment, in the social side of architecture. Asking questions about the possibility of a more inclusive city using tools such as collective development and shared spaces. We are engaged at the moment in an interesting discussion about reuse of chirches as social spaces in the city.

I am also the prorector at the school of architecture in Bergen (BAS), where I finished my diploma in 2004, and also occasionally teach. I am also the current leader of the Oslo Association of Architects.

How did you find your way into the field of Architecture?

I went to an art and craft high school in Bergen where I was so lucky to have a ceramics teacher who encouraged me. I might have had a kind of silent dream before that but I definitely remember the moment when she told me I should try architecture – and that it felt like something true. 

What comes to your mind, when you think about your diploma project?

My diploma project at BAS was aboput the possibility of protest in urban space -  more specifically the possibility of Europeans coming to Brussels to be heard and get a position in relation to the European union. This question of architecture and urbanisms ability to give space for differences and other opinions has certainly been something that I continue to work on. My professor, and later employer was Nicholas Boyarsky from Boyarsky Murphy Architects in London. 

What are your experiences founding SKAJAA Arkitektkontor and working as a self-employed architect? 

I have really never worked for any big offices so for me the situation feels quite normal. But its certainly a struggle – as I imagine it is for everybody to get work and finding ways to make the jobs we have become interesting and meaningful. We are happy to have some good clients that we are working with at the moment and find the struggle rewarding. 

How would you characterize Oslo as location for architects who want to start their own practice?

How is the context of this place influencing your work?
For me Oslo seems like a good place to run an architecture business – having really no experience from other places. There is a good group of other small or young offices that we collaborate with and match our work to. I think there is a group of offices at the moment who are raising the bar a bit and we definitely benefit from their work. 

What does your desk/working space look like? 

Our working space is in the attic in a building we share with the architecture library owned by the National Association of Architects. We have a big table in the middle for working and smaller rooms for meeting and concentrated work.