The Architecture is shaping up at Nordbygg – focus on materials

On offer are guided tours, materials exhibitions and lectures by architects, focussing on a special construction material in each appearing project.

The interest in visiting Nordbygg has increased among architects, and this year Nordbygg puts great focus on structural engineering and materials. Architects, architectural students as well as other providers have a lot to look forward to at this year’s fair, which takes place between April 26–29.   
 
During the four days of the fair, there will be guided tours by Kjellgren Kaminsky Arkitekter, who have checked out Nordbygg’s entire range. The will guide and show their personal selection of what is most notable and interesting at the fair. The tour finishes in a sea of exciting material samples – The Materials Library. There, you can be inspired by close to 3,000 material samples. 
 
– Nordbygg’s exhibitors possess a vast knowledge of materials and there are experts within virtually every construction material. It may be difficult to know what to prioritize at the fair and pretty overwhelming. I really think that you should take the opportunity to go on these guided tours, aimed specifically at architects, it is a good introduction to the great knowledge on site, says Tove Dumon Wallsten, Project Manager at Sveriges Arkitekter (Swedish Architects). 
 
Four different material in four days 

This year is the premier of  ”The Architect’s Eyes On”, a series of seminars where architects give lectures on projects focussing on a specific material. Every day is dedicated to a project and its main material, divided into brick, concrete, steel and wood. 
 
Two materials that are highlighted in recycling are wood and steel. Josef Eder from General Architecture and Anna Ervast Öberg from Folkhem will together be presenting Cederhusen in Stockholm. One of the world’s largest wooden house projects in an inner city environment with 245 homes in two blocks. Another material which is highly researched at the moment is the green, fossil-free steel. Gunnar Naess from LINK arkitektur in Trondheim will be presenting the project MS Finnmarken, Hurtigrutemuseum in Stokmarknes, Norway, which has received both the Norwegian Steel Prize and the European Steel Design Awards 2020.  
 
– It will be interesting to follow this series of lectures, where architects can present construction projects from a materials angle as a special quality of the project. This is the first time that Sveriges Arkitekter along with Nordbygg give these materials lectures, and we hope that it is the start of another collaboration, says Tove Dumon Wallsten.  

Ceramic tiles highlighted 

Sveriges Arkitekter together with Nordbygg have organised a series of student competitions over the years, called ”New Eyes On”. Here, architectural students get to create a visitor’s café, from one material’s specific qualities, and the winner gets its café constructed at the entrance of Nordbygg.  

In collaboration with Byggkeramikrådet (BKR, The Ceramic Tile Council) this year’s café, ”Tie the knot”, will consist of ceramic tiles, which is the winning café from 2020, which unfortunately couldn’t be exhibited due to the pandemic. 

– In conjunction with the visitor’s café, all the competition entries from previous years will be put together in an exhibition. It will be a kind of materials study, where students have examined different materials over 10 years. It’s an incredible collection of fine examples that I am really looking forward to seeing together for the first time, Tove Dumon Wallsten closes.  

Previous years, the visitor’s café has been constructed in wood, steel, glass, concrete and plastics.