The Ministry of Things by Gent Shehu

The Ministry Report THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021 | Norway | Number 1 | BERGEN EDITION | Price: $ 12.50

Scientific takeover in the wake of Norway’s politico-economic transition away from the ecologically detrimental oil and gas industry / The Ministry Report Illustration

Science and Bureaucracy United at Bergen’s New Ministry of Things Rethinking the role of the ministry in the age of the anthropocene Gent Shehu, Delft

With the emergence of the ‘modern man’ in the 18th century, the ministry-as a bureaucratic body-became specialized in a uni-functional building. The homogeneous office spaces, separating corridors, and centralizing courtyards, created an architectural language that matched harmoniously with the bureaucratic work. However, in the Age of the Anthropocene-when vast systems contribute indirectly to the environmental crises-the seemingly perfect machine for the organization of the state-has expired. This article, thus, engages critically with the representative and organizational role of the ministry; ultimately, establishing a new house for a rethought bureaucratic body that is capable of foreseeing Norway’s politico-economic transition away from the ecologically detrimental oil and gas industry. “Isolated in her office, the only window to the outside remains the newspaper on her desk, through which–she has figured–her bureaucratic work relates, rather surprisingly, to the environmental crises. The more efficient she is, the faster the ozone hole grows and the icebergs melt. It is baffling the relation between such distant yet strongly related systems.” Bureaucracy is at crises, for its crucial intermediary role—in translating political orders

unto directives that aim for the organization of the state—has been fundamentally shaken by the ecological crises that exposed the fault in perceiving the world through narrow-mechanic perspective and isolated systems. It’s house - the ministry – is still uni-functional and keeping very much intact the modern distinction between science and politics, humans and things. It’s spatial ramifications - corridors, homogeneous office spaces and centralized courtyards - highlight an environment where dialogue is

practically suppressed. The missing dialogue between bureaucrats and scientists has accentuated the discrepancy not only between reality and bureaucracy, but also between how the ministry is spatially organized and what it represents. “Isolated in her office, she reads the front page of “The Ministry Report”. Finally - she exclaims - Science and Bureaucracy are united at Bergens new Ministry of Things.” When Bruno Latour explains the intermingled networks of today, he uses the newspaper as the output

Uni-functional ministries incapable of tackling the proliferation of hybrids source of all the things that are happening simultaneously in the globe. “The same article mixes together chemical reactions and political re-

actions. A single thread links the most esoteric sciences and the most sordid politics, the most distant sky and some factory in the Lyion suburbs, dangers on a global scale and the impending local elections or the next board meeting. The horizons, the stakes, the time frames, the actors - none of these is commensurable, yet there they are, caught up in the same story.” Bruno Latour, We Have Never Been Modern. Translated by Catherine Porter, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993).

Bureaucracy Shaken by the Ecological Crises The modern ideals of planar purity, productivity and efficiency matched impeccably with the bureaucratic organization of the 20th century. Serial and repetitive homogeneous office spaces accentuated a proletariat paradigm, instituting the ministry as a mechanic reproduction machine. In the age of the anthropocene however, when distant systems have suddenly become related, the modern “machine” is no longer efficient in tackling issues such as global warming or the ozone hole.

Problematization of the Ministry type as an exclusive bureaucratic institution / The Ministry Report Illustration

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

City-Fjord Grid

CONTEXT

The clash between the City grid and Fjord grid manifested in the urban morphology of Bergen / Illustration by The Ministry Report

Urban Morphology and Tension in Bergen Gent Shehu, Delft

As the capital of the fjords, Bergen represents not only the start of the Hurtigruten, but also the main terminal where the flux of tourists meet the thousands of offshore workers commuting to their workplaces on board oil and gas platforms. Therefore, Bergen becomes the logistics site for a rethought tourism ministry in the wake of Norway’s politico-economic shift away from the ecologically detrimental oil and gas industry. The urban morphology of Bergen projects a tension between a city grid formation and fjord mountain adaptation. While the big scale university cluster and governmental institutions in Bergen are embedded within the city, the ministry counterbalances this tension by conquering the fjord. It’s mere location on Skansendamenpark, suggests a radical rethinking of institutional buildings. As one of the wealthiest states, under the global pressure and the shared concern about the environmental crises, Norway has opted for a politico-economic transition from the ecologically detrimental oil and gas industry to a tourism model that aims for high value creation with the

lowest possible environmental impact. Learning from Venice, Norway is aware of the deteriorating effects that the tourism industry might bring if not managed as a system. A single picture can bring a suffocating number of tourist to a place, and a new hotel in the mountain can disturb the natural habitat of the

but also of its flora and fauna, of the “silent” fabricated objects in the laboratories that stimulate cultural changes, of its economical demands to maintain its status as one of the wealthiest state. The bureaucrats of this new Ministry should speak

of the ozone hole, of the gas emission from trains and buses that take tourists from one place to another, of the farmers whose remote sites need to remain untouched, of the fish whose habitat should remain unhindered by the ferries. “Alas, the

The Ministry to counter-balance the urban tension by conquering the Fjord whales. The need for rethinking the Constitution alongside its bureaucratic bodies that are its most loyal representative is essential. As Bruno Latour has laid the foundation of this new Constitution for us, the new ministries in Norway need simply follow its steps. In order for Norway to bring to reality its “high yield-low impact” tourism model, the new bureaucratic institution should be representative not only of its people,

In between the city-fjord / Berlage’s Travel Agency Illustration

time has come when the small things bring down the great things; a tooth triumphs over a whole carcass, the rat of the Nile destroys the crocodile, the swordfish kills the whale...”, hence the ministry shall act as the bureaucratic and technocratic body

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

City-Fjord Grid

to neutralize such systemic effects, and to equilibrate Norway’s tourism industry demands. In order to neutralize the negative systemic effects that the environment, tourism and economy have upon one another, Norway establishes The Pixelated Ministry of Things as a single institution to foresee, project, equilibrate Norway’s transition from the oil and gas to the tourism industry. The New Ministry pixelates sectors of tourism, economy and environment and distributes them throughout Norway. Small offices and laboratories from South to North complete the image of the Ministry as a political body. The main building, sited in Bergen, is the highest institution of the new political order that represents the condensed version of this pixelation. As the capital of the fjords, Bergen represents not only the start of the Hurtigruten, but also the main terminal where the flux of tourists meet “the thousands of offshore workers commuting to their workplaces onboard oil and gas rigs and platforms”. Therefore, Bergen becomes the logistics site for the new Ministry to deploy Norway’s high yield-low impact tourism model. By rethinking its political organization, The New Ministry is situated at the common locus where roles, actions and abilities between bureaucrats and scientists are distributed.

CONTEXT

The Logistic Site for Boosting the Politico-Economic Transition Berlage’s Travel Agency, Delft

Formerly called the Coastal Voyage, the Hurtigruten line started its route from Bergen to Kirkenes a hundred and twenty five years ago. Today many more routes start in the city. With over half a million inco-

ming cruise passengers and the arrival of hundreds of ships every year, Bergen’s cruise port is the largest in Norway, and one of the most popular cruise destinations in Europe. Every day, the port can handle the mooring of three ships, reaching a capped maximum capacity of up to 8,000

passengers flooding the city. According to a 2019 survey of Innovation Norway, two thirds of Norwegians

Thousands of offshore worker commuting to oil and gas platforms meet the Hurtigruten!

The ‘Polluting Ferries’ reaching the harbor of Bergen. / Berlage’s Travel Agency Illustration

living in touristic coastal cities like Bergen are discontented with this invasion of cruise tourists, mentioning littering and the harmful environmental impact of the gigantic ships’ emissions as their chief concerns. Limited by the shortness of their stays, these cruise tourists swarm around a limited number of Bergen’s chief attractions, like the UNESCO world heritage site, and the Fleibanen funicular.

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Institutional Representation

REALITY

Bergen’s Institutions: a Story of TransArchitecture Gent Shehu, Delft

istorically, institutional buildings have adapted various styles in function of their political ideals, projecting forth, through the power of architecture, subliminal messages which have often been conflated with edificial complexes. Yet, rather than the emphatic classical orders, or the modernist “machine”, or even the neo-liberal “transparent” buildings, for the Ministry of Things, Earth is Monumental. Whereas the trans-stylistic facades of the governmental buildings in Bergen follow the big scale - city grid, the new ministry, echoes the distant humble Norwegian groundwork culture, by simply acknowledging the monumentality of the Fjord itself. Despite the brevity and over-simplification of Pevsner's analysis on the Ministry as a building type, one must acknowledge his wit in differentiating between: the function as represented through the plan; and style as depicted through the facade. This differentiation proves to be the critical tool to reflect on the modern movements 'romance' with the type. The modern ideals of planar purity, productivity and efficiency matched impeccably with the bureaucratic organization of the 20th century. Serial and repetitive homogeneous office spaces accentuated a proletariat paradigm, instituting the ministry as a mechanic reproduction machine. A factory of taxes, with each bureaucrat working in his own assembly line. The perfect Hegelian synthesis of plan and facade, function and representation; Form follows Function reaching its climax. Nevertheless, if one is to put this famous paradigm in the poor context eclipsing the two world wars, it takes little imagination to understand why the modern modular methods made sense for the fast rebuilding of cities. It takes little wit to acknowledge the mechanic bureaucratic work as quint-essential for the revitalization of entire countries devastated by the detrimental wars. With modernism, the Ministry became 'the' intermediary institution which readily translated political discussions into real objectives to be followed and executed imminently, acting as the ultimate backstage for the upheaval of the state. And it is precisely this functionality that at the same time is politically and culturally representational, that is so longed and adhered. Seriality, mechanism, repetitiveness, production, and efficiency - surrounding the technological, political and socio-cultural reality of the twentieth century - only prove that there is no political institution deprived from its representational

quality. Style is very much present in the modern buildings, yet rhetorically eclipsed by the overpowering 'function'. Yet, while many would argue that it is precisely the mechanic bureaucratic organization which boosts modernism's reign as 'THE' representative model for ministries, it would be severely uncritical to project the same idea for the future. It would be deeply flawed to think of bureaucracy as an isolated, singular system in the age of the Anthropocene, and in the time when we have become conscious that "a single thread links the most esoteric sciences and the most sordid politics".It would constitute a discursive breakdown to think of the plan and facade of the ministry as indispensable elements - one following the other, intermingling endlessly between representation and functionality. Yet it is precisely this uncritical reflexivity that we see with the contemporary ministry designs. Perplexed with 68's social changes, and libidinal desires of a second modernity, contemporary ministries have projec-

While contemporary practice has "freed" the facade from its "burden" of representation, it has nevertheless made it a surface of simulacrum; a representation of a second degree "democracy" ted representational characteristics - which throughout history remained solely displayed in the facade unto the plan. Hence this lingering non-efficient, pseudo-democratic open-desks, which only confuse and interfere with an already historically established role of the plan i.e. to provide the space where the wellfunctioning of the state is assured (be it in the multi-functional palaces of kings and town halls, or the unifunctional 18th century ministries and modern ones). On the other hand, while contemporary practice has "freed" the facade from its "burden" of representation, it has nevertheless become a surface of simulacrum; a representation of a second degree "democracy", which ultimately translates into the obscure and rhetorical architecture of glass. Institutional Representation in Bergen's City-Fjord Grid / Drawing by Gent Shehu

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Type Analysis

HISTORY

Pevsner’s Typological Miscarriage Gent Shehu, Delft

“Nowhere is the development from multiple functions to single, rigidly special functions”, Nikolaus Pevsner argues, “is more patent than in medieval government buildings”. [2] In what remains perhaps the only historical source for studying the ministry as a building type, Pevsner is firm on the theme of differentiation as the quint-essential characteristic of the "development" of governmental buildings. [3] [Compare image 1 and 2: “differentiation” depicted through an axonometric section of ministries 1) Housed in a Palace and 2) Uffizi in Florence] While he linearly follows the history of the ministries from their inception - alongside other functions at the palace of the kings, to the eighteenth century singularization of the type, we are left bemused as to why was it necessary to have these bureaucratic body in the first place. [4] [image 3: Somerset House in London] Their role and importance for the organization of each state is carefully neglected, and they are presented in their firm dissociation from reality yet very much in line with the "progression" of architectural discourse. Pevsner speaks of the ministries as objects in the cabinet of curiosities; interesting

Pevsner speaks of the ministries as objects in the cabinet of curiosities; interesting in their own architectural realm, yet totally dispatched from their political and social reality in their own architectural realm yet totally dispatched from their political and social reality. This immense task to dissociate architecture from its matrix which it ultimately abides, creates a blackhole in which Pevsner falls unwillingly. In what is clearly a Freudian slip, he justifies, rather uncharacteristically, that the exceptional plan and elevation of the Thorn Town Hall lie in the fact that Thorn was in the territory of the Prussian Order and in fact the most prosperous town in their territory. [5] Indeed the function of the ministry has been 'differentiated'. However to assert that this differentiation or singularization of function is progressive, would constitute an enormous break with critical thinking, and would leave one blindfolded to the organizational and political reasons that required for bureaucracy to form its specialized uni-functional ministries that we still witness today.

Specific architectural elements used for accentuating and representing political ideals / Drawings by Gent Shehu

Subliminal Messages and Edificial Complexes F

or Pevsner, The eighteenth century marks a period in which not only the function became purified, but also the style of the ministry buildings proliferated. However, following through his examples of Zakharov's Admiralty of 1806-15 in St. Petersburg, the Louvre in 1852, Foreign Office of 1868 in London, Treasury in Washington D.C., and up to the 20th century Ministry of Finance in Bucharest, the Air Ministry of Berlin, amongst many others, one understands that the underlying feature of these ministries is not a continuation and a constant reworking of

style per se, as the author claims, but a heightened need for accentuating national identity and politics. Their architectural elements, rather than evolving in linear fashion, have been revisiting, repeating, surrounding, protecting, recombining, reinterpreting and reshuffling ideas and forms that seemed tangent to the reality and political ideals of their particular context and time. Their elements thus, are derived from an anachronistic spiral that acts as a critical catalog of time; intertextualizing and collaging ideas and forms in function of accentuating and representing po-

litical ideals. The 1934 Narkomtiazhprom Competition serves as the ultimate witness of this phenomena.

...the underlying features of these ministries is not a continuation and a constant reworking of style per se...

The competition opened up a colossal battle between the Russian stylistic camps that had been looming in the 1920s. Through the entries of ‘exconstructivists Ginzburg, the Vesnins, and Leonidov; ex-rationalists Fidman and Fridman; independents Panteleimon Golosov and Melnikov; Classicist Fomin, the Narkomtiazhprom mosaic proliferation of ideas echo across time, ideology and space. All competing for the representative style of the political regime and the socio-cultural positioning of Russia for the years to come.

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Merging Bureaucracy and Science

PROGRAM Gent Shehu, Delft

he building in Bergen is a representative of all the disjointed and dispersed parts of Tourism, Economy and Environment. It is an accumulation of pixels i.e. bureaucrats and scientists that represent the citizens, the farmers, the tourist, the fish, the CO2 emission and proliferation of hybrids that together assemble a picture—which to quote Bruno Latour, “reestablishes symmetry between the two branches of government, that of things—called science and technology—and that of human beings”. here are two grids from which the ministry emerges. The first grid comprises all the scientific laboratories, plus the lobby and the assembly hall. Its distribution is based on the parameters derived from the inclination of the terrain i.e. the 7 laboratories follow the path where the inclination is the lowest. The first grid is completely submerged underground, and by respecting the existing trees and negating their shadow casts, has opening which cut through the terrain of the park for light. Except for the Assembly, which is circular, all other programs of the ministry are rectangular. The formal presence of the Assembly evokes the ancient buried amphitheaters and its the place of the ultimate dialogue. The strict formal geometrical spaces of the ministry are hardly felt when one moves from one laboratory to the next. The Norwegian stones are exposed in the surrounding walls, and the ceiling of each laboratory follow the terrain. Hence, the rectangular in plan is no longer a rectangle in section, and the contrast between the immaculate instruments and interior of laboratories is in striking contrast with the organic form. The second grid comprises all the office spaces and the canteen. It forms programmatic clusters with each laboratory by attaching 2 or 3 sectors of bureaucracy. The second

The Ministry's S cientific and Bureaucratic Organigram International Affairs Education Training Dep.

The Lobby

Laboratory of Material Re-use and Advanced Robotics

Renewable Energy Cogeneration Laboratory of Experimental BioEnergy

Energy Transition Inspectoriat

Security Room Pollution Control

Cleaner’s Room

Meteorology Space Tourism Laboratory of Earth Crust Studies

Lab. Experimental Mechanics and Transportation

Marketing and Promotion

Fisheries and Wildlife

Lab: Biodiversity in Islands, Mountains and Fjords Biodiversity Conservattion

Extraction Industry Transition

Laboratory of Experimental Energy Storage Environmnetal Impact

Lab: Geothermal Energy

Assembly

Canteen

Programmatic Flows ; linking and clustering the program. / The Ministry Report Illustration

grid does not follow the inclination of the terrain but rather its direction. The need for natural light and ventilation, project the office spaces from underground up. They open up holes in the terrain from which they emerge like mushrooms in the landscape of Skansendamenpark. The distribution of office spaces is made in a way that it links two laboratories. The office spaces falling in-between, provide the visual and physical link between the laboratories and office spaces. In the fashion of the raumplan, these office spaces have ope-

ning not only towards the outside, but also towards the inside. The stairs and ramps provide movement from one office to the next, while the multiple scattered courtyards provide light to the deeper offices. The relationship and succession of spaces is as follows. From the lobby through the "Division of Finance and Budget" one moves to the Assembly, while through the "Marketing and Technology one finds the "Laboratory of Material Re-use and Advanced Robotics. The latter links with the Laboratory of Experimen-

tal Bioenergy through the "Energy Transition Department". The Laboratory of Experimental Bioenergy goes in two directions; first, from "Renewable energy resources" goes to "The Laboratory of Experimental Energy Storage, to the "Environmental Impact Review Dept" to the Laboratory of Pollution Prevention; second, from "Meteorological and space travel" to the Laboratory of Experimental Mechanics and Transportation, to Cultural Tourism and finally to the Lab of Earth Crust Studies. The Latter, through a 70meter

long passage - cutting through the ground and hosting spaces for 3 exhibition areas for scientific explorations and bureaucratic documents - is linked with the final and largest "laboratory for studying biodiversity in island fjords and mountains. On top of the hill, overlooking Bergen, is the 1400m canteen comprising of a 300m2 kitchen, 100 m2 storage and 4 x 250m2 restaurants. Closing the loop, an escalator on top of a bridge runs through the park, linking the extremes: canteen with the lobby and assembly.

Security Room

The Lobby

Canteen

Cafeteria

Assembly

Media Communicatio nRoom

Editorial Room

Data Storage Room

Archive

Stormwater Managment

20m2

375m2

950m2

150m2

495 m2

150 m2

50 m2

75 m2

250 m2

150m2

Reception - 50m2 Waiting Area - 200m2

Kitchen - 300m2 Kitchen Storage 100m2 Restaurant 3 x 150m2

100 seats

Sanitation Facilities

Refuse room and Recycling Room

First Aid

Clearner’s Room

Locker Rooms

Coffe & Tea Corners

Technical Area

Energy Storage

International Affairs

25m2

15m2

25m2

100m2

30m2

1000 m2

100 m2

250m2

240m2

Fisheries and Wildlife Services

Education and Training Department

Marketing and Promotion

Extraction Industries Transition

Environmnetal Impact Assesment Review

Meterology, Space Travel and Exploration

Renewable Energy Sources and Cogeneration

Energy Transition Inspectoriat

Pollution Control

Biodiversity Conservation

240m2

Biodiversity in the Island, Fjord and Mountain

Laboratory of Earth Crust Studies

Laboratory of Geothermal Energy

Laboratory of Experimental BioEnergy

Laboratory of Experimental Mechanics and Transportation

Laboratory of Experimental Energy Storage

General

2665m2

Technical

2000m2

485m2

Laboratory of Material Re-use and Advanced Robotics

635m2

485m2

435m2

485m2

Scientific

Laboratory 400 m2 Mechanical Room 50m2 Storage 35m2

435m2

Laboratory 350 m2 Mechanical Room 50m2 Storage 35m2

Laboratory 550 m2 Mechanical Room 50m2 Storage 35m2

The division of spaces in the Ministry of Things. / The Ministry Report Illustration

240m2

Laboratory 400 m2 Mechanical Room 50m2 Storage 35m2

240m2

Laboratory 350 m2 Mechanical Room 50m2 Storage 35m2

240m2

Laboratory 400 m2 Mechanical Room 50m2 Storage 35m2

Bureaucratic 2640m2 3445m2

Net Floor Area: 10, 750 m2

Bureucrats: 164 Scientist: 75 Visiting Scientist: 35 Staff: 30 Total:304

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Understanding Skansendamenpark

CONTEXT

Program on Site Mapping and Parameterizing Science and Bureaucracy By G. Shehu, Delft

he spaces of the ministry are organized both by their functional needs and by a scientific understanding of the contextual conditions; radically rethinking the design parameters of governmental institutions. The big scale grid derived from the city grid and big institution is put on the site as a measuring unit for the placement of laboratories. However since the big grid runs contrary to the conditions of the fjord, the laboratories are put underground. The small scale grid derived from the morphology of the fjord, projects the placement of offices. The need for light predicates the dispersian of offices. Based on the surface temperature, avoidance of tree shadows and respecting the present roads and paths of Skansendamenpark, the offices dispearse through the site, rotating here and there reminding one of the old chinese village underground courtyards. Light exposure parameters reveal areas that are prone to receive the most sunlight and hence a greater surface temperature. As a result Offices are placed on areas with the

highest light exposure, subsequently devoiding them for thermal equilibrium. On the other hand, the laboratories are put on the strata where the relative temperature change is low, hence assuring thermal equilibrium throughout the year. Gridding the topography of Skansenda-

The spaces of the ministry are organized both by their functional needs and by a scientific understanding of the contextual conditions of Skansendamenpark menpark follows the logic of scaling and rotating, based on the above mentioned paramenters. While the first grid comprises all the scientific

Programmatic Flows ; linking and clustering the program. / The Ministry Report Illustration

laboratories, plus the lobby and the assembly hall, the second one need for natural light and ventilation, project the office spaces from underground up. They open up holes in the terrain from which they emerge like mushrooms in the landscape of Skansendamenpark. The distri-

bution of office spaces is made in a way that it links two laboratories. The office spaces falling in-between, provide the visual and physical link between the laboratories and office spaces. In the fashion of the raumplan, these office spaces have opening not only towards the outside,

but also towards the inside. The stairs and ramps provide movement from one office to the next, while the multiple scattered courtyards provide light to the deeper offices.

MAPPING SCIENCE

MAPPING AND ROTATING BUREAUCRACY

Hierarchy based on the inclination of the terrain

PARAMETER: Lowest Relative Terrain Inclination

PARAMETER: Link with Labs + Direction of the Slope Inclination

To wards Light

Towards

T. = Equilibrium

To w ards Light

T. {f}=of seasons

GRIDDING THE TOPOGRAPHY G RID

high light exposure

yearly = kWh/m 2

Mapping Offices based on surface temperature and light exposure on site / Ministry of Things Illustration

relative underground temperature change

Mapping Laboratories based on the stability of underground temperature / Ministry of Things Illustration

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Eye Gneiss Bedrock

EXCAVATION

EXCAVATING

Skansendamenpark Mapping and Parameterizing Science and Bureaucracy

Gent Shehu, Delft

orway's history with excavation techniques is vastly rich; from traditional mining to the proliferation and perfection of the mechanics of digging the ground. In a country that mountains play a fundamental cultural role, tunnels also play their part in providing the righ infrastructure for the country. Hence, Advanced Excavators and high-tech techniques are frequent and can be even considered local in Norway. The Process of excavating Skansendaenpark thus, start by removing the layers of the soil until they reach the bedrock, which in coniferous forest, rarely exceeds 1m of depth. Rock bolters are then used to crush the first layers of the bedrock - opening the path for the Sandvik DT922i to evaluate the resistance of the granite and excavate tunnels where explosives are placed. The area around the explosives is carefully analysed for a planned and careful detonation. 57,042 m3 of granite is extracted from the underground of Skansendamenpark. While 12760 m3 of the extracted granite is crushed and reused on for construction, 5676 m3 of the excevated raw eye-gneiss granite is reused directly on site. As for the remaining amount of granite - 50%of the unused 38,606m3 is used for the construction of nearby BAI. The remaining 17.7% is sent to the nearest quarry which is only 7.2 km away. " The Norwegian tunneling industry has built tunnels and underground facilities for more than 100 years. A rugged geography and sometimes harsh climate have inspired us to solve even the toughest problems to improve daily life. Our recipe consists of thorough pre-investigations, full use of hard won acquired experience and cutting edge technologies and procedures. This has made us one of the pioneers of the global tunneling industry. First. Longest. Largest. Deepest, at least sometimes. But always with a focus on safe solutions and high cost efficiency. The “Norwegian Way of Working” (NWW) plays an important role in efficient and successful tunneling. Well-proven technology, short and clear lines of communication to reach decisions and experts available on site. This allows even the most complex of situations to be handled efficiently and effectively. What also stands out as unique compared with most other countries, is the very important decision-making involvement of the shift crew at the tunnel face. These guys are highly paid, they have bonus systems for efficiency and based on their experience it turns out that if allowed, they are more in-

ventive than most engineers will give them credit for. This simple fact can have a tremendous effect on keeping construction time short and thereby lowering cost. You can rely fully on a partner with recent experience from sometimes unique, ground breaking projects, but in any case with full implementation of NWW. The main benefit of Norwegiantunneling is fast and safe tunnel excavation at affordable cost; or put in other words; time and cost efficient tunneling while maintaining excellent work safety, and high final quality without compromising required operational standard and design lifetime. Another element is adaptation to actual ground conditions using a well-established system for dealing with actually encountered rock mass in order to install best-suited rock reinforcement. In most cases and whenever possible, support will be based on state-of-the-art technologies for sprayed concrete and rock bolts, both for immediate and permanent support. The advantages of

57042m3 of granite is extracted from the underground of Skansendamenpark 12760m3 is crushed and reused for contruction, while 5675m3 of the excavated raw gneiss is reused as stone cladding this solution are hard to catch with many traditional design methods for rock support. However, application of the Observational Method (OM) as authorized in Eurocode 7, offers substantial advantages for reduction of construction time and cost, while even leading to simpler design development without reduction of safety and durability. Pre-Excavation Grouting (PEG) is the main method used for control and restriction of ground water ingress as required by the project, which also works very well with the above support solution. The overall approach and its execution is focused on quality, cooperation, experience and innovation." (Norwegian Tunneling Network / norwegiantunnelling.com)

Excavation Process and Material Tranportation / Drawings by Gent Shehu

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Geomorphological Analysis

The Mosaic Bedrock and a Corniferous Forest Gent Shehu, Delft

he Bedrock of Bergen also reflects the constant tensions between the fjord and the city. The mosaic scattering of Amphibolite rocks, Mylonite Gneiss granite, Amphibole garnet mica slate, Quartzite and Eye and Band Gneiss delineate the prolific reality of underground Norway. The position of the ministry also reflects this tension. Situated at a tectonic break between two different bedrocks, the ministry also signifies the start of a corniferous forest. It takes only 1.2 meters to reach the bedrock on Skansendamenpark. Under the Acid litter and hummus, iron and alumium compounds, the eye and band gneiss suggest the beginning of the ministry.Yet unlike most of Corniferous forest, Skansendamenpark - being a historic park - has at its entrance Birch Trees and Grey Alder, that do not match with the nature of the corniferous forests. The spread of scots pine and norway spruce, however, makes this ambivalence fade away and assures one of the geomorphological condition of the site.

The mosaic scattering of Amphibolite, Mylonite gneiss, Amphibole garnet and Eye and band Gneiss, delineates the prolific reality of underground Norway. "Norway's bedrock reflects a long history, that extends nearly 3 billion years. In the rocks, we find traces of ancient mountain ranges that had risen and have eroded down to sediments as Earth has undergone changes and the gradual rise new continents. During the same time, the physical conditions on the Earth have been in constant change. The oxygen rich atmosphere that we have today began about 2.4 billion years ago, and already 5-600 million years ago animal and plant life began to emerge. In the bedrock lies vital natural resources, in the form of stone building materials, ores and minerals, which are all necessary for the functioning of modern society. The key to understanding how we can best find these valuable resources is to improve our knowledge of the origin and composition of various rock types." (Geological Survery of Norway/ ngu.no)

Geological Section and Plan of Bergen and of the Site of the new Ministry. / The Ministry Report Illustration

CONTEXT

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Humidity, Ventilation and Light

CONTEXT

Towards a Grotto Experience Studying the possibilites and implications of building underground

ne could assume that Humidity, Ventilation and Light have shaped Earth itself. So it is natural to presume that they should greatly influence the designing of underground spaces. Hence the ministry starts off by mapping the relative temperature difference between surface and underground. Placing of bureaucratic and scientific spaces accordingly in and out the ground. To insure light for the offices, the Inverse Courtyard are made of glass panel pattern mounted directly to the wooden supporting structure forming a whole

high light exposur

reminiscent of the traditional roofs. However, for sufficient light mirrors are placed along the retaining walls to direct the light towards the inner spaces of the Ministry. Fortunately, Rocks and materials that have a “closely interlocking mineral matrix”, such as the metamorphic rocks in Skansendamenpark, can strongly prevent water movement. Hence, moisture and condensation prevention measures are takes such as: damp-proof course, moisture-proof linoleum is used in combination with lime-soil”. Since

offices are closer to the ground and soil they are more prone to damp, hence enhanced measured are taken in all walls, while the laboratories depth in the bedrock provides good humidity conditions. Condensation is in function of the air exchange between the cave and outside - during the summer season the condensation is higher hence a natural ventilation through a chimney effect is made possible. Ventilation is a key factor for overcoming both condensation and moisture problems in underground spaces of the laboratories

as well. Extra measures are taken in laboratories to have an immacula-

"That tradition has one outstanding advantage over its newer rivals among environmental management techniques in that it disposes of a repertouire of symbolic forms--walls, roof, arch, column, vaullt--that still bestow cultural status and power. But now that the techniques of unassisted structure have ceased to be the unique and inevitable solution to environmental porbles, the unique force of those symbols has begun to wane." Banham, The Architecture of te environment. Hence a high per- the Well-Tempered Environment, formance VAV system is installed. 289.

Rocks that have closely interlocking mineral matrix can strongly prevent water movement

overlapping pattern of glass panels

Offices

w ooden structure

Laboratories

relative

yearly = kWh/m 2

T. change

preventing water movement

higher moisture level

office spaces

O FFICES

L ABORA TORIES

natural ventilation during summer

higher condensation

O FFICES

variable air volume

control with ventilation

moisture permeability and prevention

mechanical ventilation

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Skansendamenpark

CONTEXT PLAN

Context plan of the Ministry of Things projected on Skansendamenpark, respecting the conditions of the Fjord / Drawing by Gent Shehu

The Reverberating Pixelated Courtyards

Clustering science and bureaucracy underground, poses a critical approach towards the conventions of the courtyard type and its corridors. The relationship between spaces in the Ministry is sequential, spurring from the underground up, following the steepness of the terrain, decentralizing and inversing the courtyard

by forming pixels throughout the site - and ultimately substitutes the corridor with Adolf Loos' idea of Raumplan. Projected from the abstract grid of spatial interrelations to the natural topography, the ministerial spaces are sequential. Spurring from the underground up, the inverted courtyards follow the steepness

of the terrain, the sun, the trees - the ‘fjordian’ conditions, establishing the Ministry of Things as representative of a radical rethinking on designing governmental institutions. Represented through the soil and slope of Skansendamenpark, the Ministry echoes the Scandinavian lost cultures and their earthly structures.

The reverberating pixelated courtyards, assemble a picture that reminds one of the famous Norwegian Stave Churches, while at the same time critically engaging with their material technology and architectural identity.

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Laboratories 00

PLANS

The Anachronistic Plans - Part 1: Laboratories Gent Shehu, Delft

The Ministries programmatic arrangments offer sustainable alternatives to the transportation and accomodation sectors out churches, and China’s underground courtyards, enriching the discourse by stimulating a passage through time and space, a blend of science and culture. The ministry becomes an accumulation of pixels; bureaucrats and scientists, offices and labs that represent the citizens, the farmers, the tourist, the fish, the CO2 emissions and proliferation of hybrids that together assemble a picture which to quote Bruno Latour, “reestablishes symmetry between the two branches of government, that of things—called science and technology—and that of human beings''. By dedifferentiating in plan, The Ministry of Things houses bureaucratic offices and scientific laboratories. By challenging the essentials of the type - corridors and courtyards - a space for the necessary dialogue between humans and things is provided. The courtyard as a centralized magnetic field that pulls everything together is decentralized; forming pixels throughout the territory -

steadily engaging with the systemic impacts of the tourism industry. The corridor as the beloved modern separator and excluder, is critically challenged and ultimately negated. There are two grids from which the ministry emerges: The first grid comprises all the scientific laboratories, plus the lobby and the assembly hall. The Grid is completely submerged underground, and by respecting the existing trees and negating their shadow casts, has opening which cut through the terrain of the park for light. The formal presence of the Assembly evokes the ancient buried amphitheaters and its the place of the ultimate dialogue. The Norwegian stones are exposed in the surrounding walls, and the ceiling of each laboratory follows the terrain. Hence, the the difference between plan and section, and the contrast between the immaculate instruments and interior of laboratories is in striking contrast with the organic forms. The second grid comprises all the office spaces and the canteen. It forms programmatic clusters with each laboratory by attaching 2 or 3 sectors of bureaucracy. The second grid does not follow the inclination of the terrain but rather its direction. The need for natural light and ventilation, project the office spaces from underground up. They open up holes in the terrain from which they emerge like mushrooms in the landscape of Skansendamenpark. The distribution of office spaces is made in a way that it links two laboratories. The office spaces falling in-between, provide the visual and physical link between the laboratories and office spaces. In the fashion of the raumplan, these office spaces have opening not only towards the outside, but also towards the inside. The stairs and ramps provide movement from one office to the next, while the multiple scattered courtyards provide light to the deeper offices. Program 00: 5A. Laboratory of Experimental Energy Storage ; 5B. Laboratory of Material Re-use and Advanced Robotics ; 5C. Laboratory of Experimental Mechanics and Transportations; 5D. Laboratory of Experimental BioEnergy ; 5E. Laboratory of Earth Crust Studies ; 5F. Laboratory of Biodiversity (Islands, Mountains, Fjords); 5G. Laboratory of Geothermal Energy .; 0. Entrance ; 1. Lobby; 2. Locker Room; 3. Toilet 4. Cleaner’s Room ; 5. Laboratories ; 6. Mechanical Room; 7. Storage Space ; 8. Archive ; 9. Data Storage ; 10. Exhibition Space

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Laboratories 00

PLANS

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Bureaucrato

SECTIONS

Bureaucrato-Scientific Sectioning: A-A

Walking through the Pixelated Ministry of Things is like reading a newspaper. Here one finds a scientific revelation, there lies a new policy for sustainable transportation. From a desk full of papers, one flirts with splitting molecules, with the drastic rise of temperatures. In such an environment the bureaucrat becomes absorbed and seamlessly touches the nature of things. In such an environment the scientist is exposed and endlessly becomes part of the production of Norway’s politics.

The Ministry of Things is the representative institution that produces experiments and taxes to help manage Norway’s transition away from the ecologically detrimental oil and gas industry. Clustering science and bureaucracy underground, poses a critical approach towards the conventions of the ministry type and its corridors. The relationship between spaces in the Ministry is sequential, decentralizing and inversing the courtyard by multiplying it throughout

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Scientific the site. In-between echoing sounds and grotto spaces, bureaucrats and scientists sculpt their way through laboratories and offices inciting the missing dialogue between humans and things. and offices regulating through taxes: the extraction industry transition, pollution, wildlife and fisheries, tourism environmental impacts, biodiversity meteorology and space travel. The assembly acts as the binding force in which research is shared and decisions are made. By being resistant to a stylistic norma-

SECTIONS lization and contingency of a single methodology, the ministry opens up to the network and systemic approach in the hybridization of science and bureaucracy, offering a solid

foundation, that oscillates between politics and science, between programs and instruments to Norway’s Road-map towards 2050.

Walking through the Ministry of Things is like reading a newspaper. Here one finds a scientific revelation, there lies a new policy for sustainable transportation.

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Offices 01

PLANS

The Anachronistic Plans - Part 2: Offices 01 Gent Shehu, Delft

he Ministry of Things is the backstage of the new tourism model. Its programmatic arrangements offer sustainable alternatives to the transportation and accommodation sectors through both research laboratories, concerned with material reuse, geothermal energy sources, bioenergy, earth crust studies, biodiversity, experimental mechanics and transportation; and offices regulating through taxes: the extraction industry transition, pollution, wildlife and fisheries, tourism environmental impacts, biodiversity meteorology and space travel. The assembly acts as the binding force in which research is shared and decisions are made. By being resistant to a stylistic normalization and contingency of a single methodology, the ministry opens up to the network and systemic approach in the hybridization of science and bureaucracy, offering a solid foundation to Norway’s Roadmap towards 2050. The plans reflect an assemblage of ideas as found in Etruscan’s Tumuli, Ethopia’s carved out churches, and China’s underground courtyards, enriching the discourse by stimulating a passage through time and space, a blend of science and culture. The ministry becomes an accumulation of pixels; bureaucrats and scientists, offices and labs that represent the citizens, the farmers, the tourist, the fish, the CO2 emissions and proliferation of hybrids that together assemble a picture which to quote Bruno Latour, “reestablishes symmetry between the two branches of government, that of things—called science and technology—and that of human beings''. By dedifferentiating in plan, The Ministry of Things houses bureaucratic offices and scientific laboratories. By challenging the essentials of the type - corridors and courtyards - a space for the necessary dialogue between humans and things is provided. The courtyard as a centralized magnetic field that pulls everything together is decentralized; forming pixels throughout the territory steadily engaging with the systemic impacts of the tourism industry. The corridor as the beloved modern separator and excluder, is critically challenged and ultimately negated. There are two grids from which the ministry emerges: The first grid comprises all the scientific laboratories, plus the lobby and the assembly hall. The Grid is completely submerged underground, and by respecting the existing trees and negating their shadow casts, has opening which cut through the terrain of the park

for light. The formal presence of the Assembly evokes the ancient buried amphitheaters and its the place of the ultimate dialogue. The Norwegian stones are exposed in the surrounding walls, and the ceiling of each laboratory follows the terrain. Hence, the the difference between plan and section, and the contrast between the immaculate instruments and interior of laboratories is in striking contrast with the organic forms. The second grid comprises all the office spaces and the canteen. It forms programmatic clusters with each laboratory by attaching 2 or 3 sectors of bureaucracy.

By being resistant to a stylistic normalizaiton and contingency of a single methodology, the ministry opens up to the hybridisation of science and bureaucracy

The second grid does not follow the inclination of the terrain but rather its direction. The need for natural light and ventilation, project the office spaces from underground up. They open up holes in the terrain from which they emerge like mushrooms in the landscape of Skansendamenpark. The distribution of office spaces is made in a way that it links two laboratories. The office spaces falling in-between, provide the visual and physical link between the laboratories and office spaces. In the fashion of the raumplan, these office spaces have opening not only towards the outside, but also towards the inside. The stairs and ramps provide movement from one office to the next, while the multiple scattered courtyards provide light to the deeper offices. Program 01: 0.Lobby ; 1. International Affairs ; 2. Marketing and Promotion; 3. Environmental Impact Assesment Review ; 4. Education and Training ; 5. Laboratories ; 6. Pollution Control ; 7. Extraction Industry Transition ; 8. Renewable Energy Sources and Cogeneration ; 9. Energy Transition Inspectoriat ; 10. Biodiversity Conservation ; 11. Fisheries and Wildlife Services ; 12. Meteorology, Space Travel and Exploration ; 13. Assembly

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Offices 01

PLANS

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Bureaucrato

SECTIONS

Bureaucrato-Scientific Sectioning: B-B

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

SECTIONS lization and contingency of a single methodology, the ministry opens up to the network and systemic approach in the hybridization of science and bureaucracy, offering a solid

foundation, that oscillates between politics and science, between programs and instruments to Norway’s Road-map towards 2050.

From a desk full of papers, one flirts with splitting molecules, with the drastic rise of temperatures. In such an environment the bureaucrat becomes absorbed...

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Offices 02

PLANS

The Anachronistic Plans - Part 3: Offices 02 Gent Shehu, Delft

The Ministry is, an accumulation of pixels; i.e. bureaucrats and scientist, offices and labs, that represent the citizen, the farmer, the fish, the CO2 emmisions and proliferation of hybrids solid foundation to Norway’s Roadmap towards 2050. The plans reflect an assemblage of ideas as found in Etruscan’s Tumuli, Ethopia’s carved out churches, and China’s underground courtyards, enriching the discourse by stimulating a passage through time and space, a blend of science and culture. The ministry becomes an accumulation of pixels; bureaucrats and scientists, offices and labs that represent the citizens, the farmers, the tourist, the fish, the CO2 emissions and proliferation of hybrids that together assemble a picture which to quote Bruno Latour, “reestablishes symmetry between the two branches of government, that of things—called science and technology—and that of human beings''. By dedifferentiating in plan, The Ministry of Things houses bureaucratic offices and scientific laboratories. By challenging the essentials of the

type - corridors and courtyards - a space for the necessary dialogue between humans and things is provided. The courtyard as a centralized magnetic field that pulls everything together is decentralized; forming pixels throughout the territory steadily engaging with the systemic impacts of the tourism industry. The corridor as the beloved modern separator and excluder, is critically challenged and ultimately negated. There are two grids from which the ministry emerges: The first grid comprises all the scientific laboratories, plus the lobby and the assembly hall. The Grid is completely submerged underground, and by respecting the existing trees and negating their shadow casts, has opening which cut through the terrain of the park for light. The formal presence of the Assembly evokes the ancient buried amphitheaters and its the place of the ultimate dialogue. The Norwegian stones are exposed in the surrounding walls, and the ceiling of each laboratory follows the terrain. Hence, the the difference between plan and section, and the contrast between the immaculate instruments and interior of laboratories is in striking contrast with the organic forms. The second grid comprises all the office spaces and the canteen. It forms programmatic clusters with each laboratory by attaching 2 or 3 sectors of bureaucracy. The second grid does not follow the inclination of the terrain but rather its direction. The need for natural light and ventilation, project the office spaces from underground up. They open up holes in the terrain from which they emerge like mushrooms in the landscape of Skansendamenpark. The distribution of office spaces is made in a way that it links two laboratories. The office spaces falling in-between, provide the visual and physical link between the laboratories and office spaces. In the fashion of the raumplan, these office spaces have opening not only towards the outside, but also towards the inside. The stairs and ramps provide movement from one office to the next, while the multiple scattered courtyards provide light to the deeper offices.

Program 02: 1. Lobby ; 2. Departments; 3. Courtyards ; 4. Coffee Corner ; 5. Laboratories ; 6. Private Meeting Spaces . ; 7. Toilet; 8. Kitchen ; 9. Kitchen Storage ; 10. Eating Spaces ; 11. Exhibition Area; 12. Assembly

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Offices 02

PLANS

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Bureaucrato

SECTIONS

Bureaucrato-Scientific Sectioning: C-C

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

SECTIONS lization and contingency of a single methodology, the ministry opens up to the network and systemic approach in the hybridization of science and bureaucracy, offering a solid

foundation, that oscillates between politics and science, between programs and instruments to Norway’s Road-map towards 2050.

In between echoing sounds and grotto spaces, bureaucrats and scientist sculpt their way through laboratories and offices inciting the missing dialogue between humans and things.

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Rethinking Monumentality

FACADE

The Ministry of Things front view / Drawing by Gent Shehu

Monumental Facade Gent Shehu, Delft

The building in Bergen is a representative of all the disjointed and dispersed parts of Tourism, Economy and Environment. It is an accumulation of pixels i.e. bureaucrats and

scientists that represent the citizens, the farmers, the tourist, the fish, the CO2 emission and proliferation of hybrids that together assemble a picture—which to quote Bruno Latour, “reestablishes symmetry between the two branches of government, that

of things—called science and technology—and that of human beings”. By concurring the representative role of the facade, the ministry is buried underground. Rather than the emphatic classical orders, or the modernist machine, or even the

neo-liberal transparency, in The Pixelated Ministry of Things, the earth is the monumental. Free from prejudice for the humble groundwork of the traditional Norwegian architecture, it interprets the high yieldlow impact model also in terms of visual appearance. Projected from the abstract grid of spatial interrelations to the natural topography, the ministerial spaces are sequential. Spurring from the underground up, the inverted courtyards follow the

steepness of the terrain, the sun, the trees - the ‘fjordian’ conditions, establishing the Ministry of Things as representative of a radical rethinking on designing governmental institutions. The reverberating pixelated courtyards, assemble a picture that reminds one of the famous Norwegian Stave Churches, while at the same time, critically engaging with their material technology and architectural identity. 'If we were to come

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Rethinking Monumentality

'If we were to come across a slope in the woods, forty meters high, one hundred meters long-and wide, with empty glass huts spread here-and-there and a punctured soil channeling light, a somber mood would come over us and a voice would say, "There are bureaucrats and scientist working here". That is a Ministry!

FACADE

across a slope in the woods, forty meters high, one hundred meters long-and-wide, with empty glass huts spread here-and-there and a punctured soil channeling light, a somber mood would come over us and a voice would say, “There are bureaucrats and scientists working here”. That is a Ministry! For the Pixelated Ministry of Things, the slope of Skansendamenpark represents the monumental. One enters the ministry by taking

the stairs that submerge 3 meters under the ground. From the lobby, to the highest point of the ministry that is the "Laboratory of Biodiversity in the Island, Fjord and Mountain - the floor level difference is no less than 40 meters. Yet that difference is humbly disguised by simply pixelating the ministry throughout the terrain. Each space of the ministry - either bureaucratic or scientific serves as a predecessor to the next.

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

History and Future

CULTURE&SOCIETY

THE S USCEPTIBLE WHOLE

Inside the Model that Reimages the Ministry as a Building in the Post-Anthropocentric Age By Gent Shehu, Delft

scillating between politics and science, between programs and instruments, the Ministry of Things is a hybrid capable of tackling the repercussions of the tourism industry. In the eyes of the Moderns, the new Ministry is deranged, for it has a schizophrenic relation with their constitution. The employees of this new Ministry speak of the ozone hole, of the gas emission from trains and buses that take tourists from one place to another, of the farmers whose remote sites need to remain untouched, of the fish whose habitat should remain unhindered by the polluting ferries. “Alas, the time has

sentatives, scientist who speak in their name. Societies are present, but with the objects that have been serving as their ballast from time immemorial. Let one of the representative talk, for instance about the ozone hole, another represent the

does it matter, so long as they are all talking about the same thing, about a quasi-object they have all created, the object-discourse-nature-society whose new properties astound us all and whose network extends from my refrigerator to the Antarctic by

them that the Parliament of Things gathers henceforth.” Latour, We Have Never Been Modern, 141. To assume criticality, means to dispatch oneself from the contingency of the linear development of discourse and immediacy of action-reaction

that seem nearer to the present conditions than the immediate linearity of the near discourse. “As Nietzsche observed long ago, the moderns suffer from the illness of historicism. They want to keep everything, date everything, because they think they

phenomenon. It means to engage with the anachronistic critical spiral which would allow revisiting, repeating, surrounding, protecting, recombining, reinterpreting, and reshuffling ideas from the vast past

have definitively broken with their past. The more they accumulate revolutions, the more they save; the more they capitalize, the more they put on display in museums.” Latour, We Have Never Been Modern, 69 .

The new Ministry is deranged, for it has a schizophrenic relation with their constitution. The bureaucrats of this new Ministry speak of the ozone hole, of the gas emissions from trains and buses... come when the small things bring down the great things; a tooth triumphs over a whole carcass, the rat of the Nile destroys the crocodile, the swordfish kills the whale...”, hence the ministry shall act to neutralize such systemic impacts, and to equilibrate Norway’s tourism industry demands. The Ministries Post-Anthropocentric agenda is as follows: “In the new constitution natures are present, but with their repre-

The susceptible - intertwined whole / The Ministry Report illustration

Monsanto chemical industry, a third the workers of the same chemical industry, another the voters of New Hampshire, a fifth the meteorology of the polar regions; let still another speak in the name of the state; what

VICISSITUTES OVER THE CENTURIES PART 1: MM b.C.; Henan Province, China Yaodongs in Sanmenxia city

way of chemistry, law, the State, the economy, and satellites. The imbroglios and networks that had no place now have the whole place to themselves. They are the ones that have to be represented; it is around

VICISSITUTES OVER THE CENTURIES PART 2: VIII-VI b.C.; Cerveteri, Rome Necropoli della Banditaccia, Etruscan civilization

VICISSITUTES OVER THE CENTURIES PART 3: II b.C.; Aurangabad District Maharashtra State, India Ajanta Caves

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

History and Future

CULTURE&SOCIETY

Model Matrix / The Ministry Report illustration

Similarly, Reyner Banham states: “That tradition has one outstanding advantage over its newer rivals among environmental management techniques in that it disposes of a repertouire of symbolic forms--walls,

roof, arch, column, vaullt--that still bestow cultural status and power. But now that the techniques of unassisted structure have ceased to be the unique and inevitable solution to environmental porbles, the unique

VICISSITUTES OVER THE CENTURIES PART 4: XII A.D; Ethiopia, Lalibela Rock-Hewn Churches

force of those symbols has begun to wane. Hence the avidity with which Modernist, from Le Corbusier to the fantasists and visionaries of the nineteen-sixties, have stolen froms from other technologies--and hence

too the inevitable disappointments when those forms proved neither to guarantee nor even indicate significant environmental and functional improvement over what the older structural technology afforded, be-

VICISSITUTES OVER THE CENTURIES PART 5: XII-XV A.D England Hedingham, Dover, Peak Castles

cause this was merely that older technology dressed up in borrowed clothes.” Banham, The Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment, 289.

VICISSITUTES OVER THE CENTURIES PART 6: 1968 Lebanon Jeita Grotto Theatre, Jørn Utzon

THE MINISTRY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

Vicissitutes over the Centuries

his is an assemblage. An assemblage no longer attributable to one thing but to many. To its name, to its parts, to perhaps the mapping of the whole. It entails multiple stories, multiple fragments, multiple histories; vicissitudes of centuries in a conceptualized singularity. It conceives its criticality only when one looks closely in its embedded context. Villa Bergeniana is no mere composition. It is not a mere consequence of visual idealization. It is a care-

REFLECTIONS

ful projection that reflects the clash of the city and the fjord in Bergen, without resolving it, for it is past the obsession with resolution. It negotiates between the humble Norwegian groundwork and big scale institutions and it deliberately projects this tension. It makes it Visible. It is a grand narrative of trans-architectural elements selected apriori to match the contextual features of the fjord, placing history withing the boundaries of the site, and placing the site withing the

boundaries of history. It might be a ministry, just as it might be any other type of governmental institution really, for they have always borrowed from other types, haven’t they? Nevertheless, this self-proclaimed Ministry carefully distances itself from the contingencies of the linear and progression narratives of architectural types. It perceives history as a spiral rather than a line, and by residing in a polytemporal framework, it liberates itself from the crudeness of labels,

such as archaic or advanced, modern or non-modern. And just like language, it is composed of words or rather architectural forms put together to form a whole. It’s elements negotiate, forming a narrative of additions, spaces without intermissions, directly linked without the need of conjunctions or corridors. Perhaps, after all this is no longer an assemblage but a myth. Perhaps, after all, this is simply a Norwegian Myth.