Welcome as new Director of the Oslo Architecture Triennale, Line! Coming straight out of one year at Harvard, and having spent the last years working with architecture and local communties on the border between Burma and Thailand – what is the most important that you bring in to the Triennale?

I have a strong engagement in our built environment and how it affects people and communities. This engagement has only grown stronger seeing how sustainable, place-specific architecture and good, inclusive processes have the potential to actually change local communities. Combined with the experiences I have from both the public sector, NGOs and as a practitioner of landscape architecture in Norway, this has provided me with a large national and international network, that I look forward to activate for the benefit of the Triennale. I enter this job with a strong ambition of continuing the process of making the Oslo Architecture Triennale maintain – and further develop – its position as an important voice in the debate about architecture and urban development, in Norway and internationally.

What is the first thing you will do as new Director?

I must confess I am a huge fan of the work that my predecessor Christian and the rest of the Triennale team have done, and I find the neighbourhood theme to be both important and inspiring. Christian has also been a loud and clear voice in the public debate. That is also my aspiration, but first I will spend some time learning from the work that has been done so far, talk to the Triennale members, partners, sponsors and people from both inside and outside the field of architecture. This will provide for a good foundation for creating long-term collaborations and a steady development of the Triennale itself.

In your opinion, what are the most important topics within the fields of architecture and urban development going forward?

One of the most central issues is that we have to pursue a regenerative mindset and a circular action pattern, where we dare question what we actually need. The fact of the matter is that we need to use what we have longer and in new ways, and form and reform new and existing buildings in a way that benefits the environment, users and neighbourhoods. In the context of the construction industry and the field of urban development, this means for instance that all costs of a building process need to be taken into account – including the benefits and disadvantages the processes entail on people and nature. Luckily, we can observe tendencies implying parts of the industry is progressing in the right direction. Our system lags behind, however, and I look forward to these major issues being handled at a political and systemic level. This is a prerequesite for making the neccessary changes in laws and regulations as well as in the practice, and to facilitate for a good framewaok for constructive collaborations across different disciplines and actors within architecture and urban development in the time to come

How can the Oslo Architecture Triennale contribute to put these important questions on the agenda?

As an actor that is independent, but with strong bonds to our members, sponsors, collaborating architectural offices and other partners in the field of architecture and urban development, the Oslo Architecture Triennale represents a unique occasion to gather people in formal and informal settings where we can challenge and learn from one another. Through the Triennale we can question the status quo and collect information, experiences and knowledge from all over the world, that can contribute to shape our path going forward. As a festival, then, we can use curatorial means such as exhibitions, academic texts, interviews, seminars, public talks, art and music, to create a curiosity towards our discipline, and highlight a diversity of challenges and possibilities for good neighbourhoods for both people and the environment.

Well, why do we need the Oslo Architecture Triennale today, then?

The Triennale provides a fantastic arena for gathering a broad audience for a common conversation about how we want our cities and communities to be developed. The Triennale is a meeting point for institutions within architecture and urbanism to exchange knowledge and experiences, and for increasing understanding and a development within the profession itself. It also represents a unique place to meet across disciplines – a democratic platform where politicians, professionals and citizens – neighbours! – get together, celebrating ambitious sustainable architecture and together contributing to improving the framework for the relationship between the built environment, people and nature for the future.

You practically just landed, and only start working in August, formally. Can you still hint towards what we can expect from the next Triennale edition in 2025?

I have been following the Oslo Architecture Triennale enthusiastically for many years, and the «Mission Neighbourhood» triennale in 2022 was really an eye opener for me, as to what impact the Triennale can have. So at that moment I went from being an admirer from the outside to becoming an actual fan. Thus, the neighbourhood perspective will still be present at the next Triennale, but without launching the theme itself, the 2025 edition will also adress nature and environmental issues more explicitly. The combination of being a professional and publicly accessible platform with both a local and international horizon, will also be further developed. Because we have to be both, no doubt! What I can safely say is that you can expect an inclusive, spacious and professionally intriguing triennale. I can’t wait to get started!

LINE RAMSTAD

• New director of the Oslo Architecture Triennale as of August 1, 2024
• Landscape architect, educated at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), with an additional bachelor’s degree in anthropology, geography and environmental issues from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
• Loeb Fellow på Harvard Graduate School of Design from 2023–24
• Former landscape architect at Agraff
• Founder and Director of Gyaw Gyaw (2009–), a small non-profit organization located on the border between Thailand and Burma, that utilize sustainable architecture as a tool to strengthen the local communities