Behind the Green Door

Architecture and the desire for sustainability

Oslo Architecture Triennale (OAT) is the Nordic region’s biggest architecture festival, held every third year in Oslo. This year’s Triennale marks the 5th edition, and is titled Behind the Green Door – Architecture and the desire for sustainability.

OAT’s main exhibition,Behind the Green Door, opens September 19. For the past year, the Belgian curators Rotor have collected over 600 objects, all carrying claims of sustainability, from over 200 architecture offices, companies and environmental organisations across the world. Together these objects form a collection of curiosities, exhibited at DogA until December 1.

The exhibition explores ‘sustainability’ in architecture and city planning almost 30 years after the Brundtland Commission first launched the term. Instead of taking a position on what is and isn’t sustainable, Rotor wish to look at how projects and products refer to the term to present themselves. In the exhibition you will find everything from press cuttings, material samples, models, games, photographs, videos and prototypes – an impressive collection showing how architecture, city planning, scientific practice, business opportunity and political power are intertwined under the umbrella of sustainability.

The main exhibition invites you to a thorough, critical and playful journey through sustainability’s impact and influence on architectural culture over the past 30 years. While some today claim that the notion of sustainability has lost its meaning, others will argue that it has never been more important.

In addition to the main exhibition, Oslo Architecture Triennale collaborated with a number of partners in developing a rich programme stretching across Oslo and the Oslo region. For further information, take a look at the full OAT programme.

Welcome to a fascinating world. Behind the Green Door.